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royal gift from a young lady."
"I girded it on him myself," Eilonwy interrupted. She turned to
Gwydion. "I told him not to draw it, but he's impossibly stubborn."
"Fortunately you did not unsheath it entirely," Gwydion said to
Taran. "I fear the flame of Dyrnwyn would have been too great even for an
Assistant Pig-Keeper.
"It is a weapon of power, as Eilonwy recognized,'' Gwydion added.
"So ancient that I believed it no more than a legend. There are still deep
secrets concerning Dyrnwyn, unknown even to the wisest. Its loss destroyed
Spiral Castle and was a severe blow to Arawn."
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With a single, firm gesture, Gwydion drew the blade and held it
aloft. The weapon glittered blindingly. In fear and wonder, Taran shrank back,
his wound throbbing anew. Gwydion quickly returned the blade to its scabbard.
"As soon as I saw Lord Gwydion," Eilonwy put in, with an admiring
glance at him, "I knew he was the one who should keep the sword. I must say
I'm glad to have done with the clumsy thing."
"Do stop interrupting," Taran cried. "Let me find out what happened
to my friend before you start babbling."
"I shall not weary you with a long tale," Gwydion said. "You already
know Arawn's threat has been turned aside. He may strike again, how or when no
man can guess. But for the moment there is little to fear."
"What of Achren?" Taran asked. "And Spiral Castle ..."
"I was not in Spiral Castle when it crumbled," Gwydion said. "Achren
took me from my cell and bound me to a horse. With the Cauldron-Born, we rode
to the castle of Oeth-Anoeth ."
"Oeth-Anoeth?" questioned Taran.
"It is a stronghold of Annuvin," Gwydion said, "not far from Spiral
Castle , raised when Arawn held wider sway over Prydain. A place of death, its
walls are filled with human bones. I could foresee the torments Achren had
planned for me.
"Yet, before she thrust me into its dungeons, she gripped my arm.
'Why do you choose death, Lord Gwydion?' she cried, 'when I can offer you
eternal life and power beyond the grasp of mortal minds?'
"'I ruled Prydain long before Arawn,' Achren told me, 'and it was I
who made him king over Annuvin. It was I who gave him power--- though he used
it to betray me. But now, if you desire it, you shall take your place on the
high throne of Arawn himself and rule in his stead.'
"'Gladly will I overthrow Arawn,' I answered. 'And I will use those
powers to destroy you along with him.'"
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"Raging, she cast me into the lowest dungeon," Gwydion said. "I have
never been closer to my death than in Oeth Anoeth.
"How long I lay there, I cannot be sure," Gwydion continued. "In
Oeth-Anoeth, time is not as you know it here. It is better that I do not speak
of the torments Achren had devised. The worst were not of the body but of the
spirit, and of these the most painful was despair. Yet, even in my deepest
anguish, I clung to hope. For there is this about Oeth-Anoeth: if a man
withstand it, even death will give up its secrets to him.
"I withstood it," Gwydion said quietly, "and at the end much was
revealed to me which before had been clouded. Of this, too, I shall not speak.
It is enough for you to know that I understood the workings of life and death,
of laughter and tears, endings and beginnings. I saw the truth of the world,
and knew no chains could hold me. My bonds were light as dreams. At that
moment, the walls of my prison melted."
"What became of Achren?" Eilonwy asked.
"I do not know," Gwydion said. "I did not see her thereafter. For
some days I lay concealed in the forest, to heal the injuries of my body.
Spiral Castle was in ruins when I returned to seek you; and there I mourned
your death."
"As we mourned yours," Taran said.
"I set out for Caer Dathyl again," Gwydion continued. "For a time I
followed the same path Fflewddur chose for you, though I did not cross the
valley until much later. By then, I had outdistanced you a little.
"That day, a gwythaint plunged from the sky and flew directly toward
me. To my surprise, it neither attacked nor sped away after it had seen me,
but fluttered before me, crying strangely. The gwythaint's language is no
longer secret to me--- nor is the speech of any living creature--- and I
understood a band of travelers was journeying from the hills nearby and a
white pig accompanied them.
"I hastened to retrace my steps. By then, Hen Wen sensed I was close
at hand. When she ran from you," Gwydion said to Taran, "she ran not in terror
but to find me. What I learned from her was more important than I suspected,
and I understood why Arawn's champion sought her desperately. He, too,
realized she knew the one thing that could destroy him."
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"What was that?" Taran asked urgently.
"She knew the Horned King's secret name."
"His name?" Taran cried in astonishment. "I never realized a name
could be so powerful."
"Yes," Gwydion answered. "Once you have courage to look upon evil,
seeing it for what it is and naming it by its true name, it is powerless
against you, and you can destroy it. Yet, with all my understanding,'' he
said, reaching down and scratching the white pig's ear, "I could not have
discovered the Horned King's name without Hen Wen.
"Hen Wen told me this secret in the forest. I had no need of letter
sticks or tomes of enchantment, for we could speak as one heart and mind to
another. The gwythaint, circling overhead, led me to the Horned King. The rest
you know."
"Where is the gwythaint now?" asked Taran.
Gwydion shook his head. "I do not know. But I doubt she will ever
return to Annuvin, for Arawn would rend her to pieces once he learned what she
had done. I only know she has repaid your kindness in the fullest measure.
"Rest now," Gwydion said. "Later, we shall speak of happier things."
"Lord Gwydion," Eilonwy called, as he rose to leave, "what was the
Horned King's secret name?"
Gwydion's lined face broke into a smile. "It must remain a secret,"
he said, then patted the girl gently on the cheek. "But I assure you, it was
not half as pretty as your own."
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A FEW DAYS AFTERWARDS, when Taran had regained strength enough to
walk unaided, Gwydion accompanied him through Caer Dathyl. Standing high on a
hill, the fortress alone was big enough to hold several Caer Dallbens. Taran
saw armorers' shops, stables for the steeds of warrior, breweries, weaving
rooms. Cottages clustered in the valleys below, and clear streams ran golden
in the sunlight. Later, Gwydion summoned all the companions to the great hall
of Caer Dathyl, and there, amid banners and hedges of spears, they received
the gratitude of King Math Son of Mathonwy, ruler of the House of Don. The
white-bearded monarch, who looked as old as Dallben and as testy, was even [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]