World of Disney Halloween

Part Four: Reborn Again

            The Guardian power was limitless, even under the evil control of Nosferina.

Thomas should have known that before he, Jatniel, Benji, Taran, Eilonwy, and Hen Wen made their escape from the dungeon.

It was the useful ability of foresight that drew Nosferina's attention to them. No telling how much of their movements she detected from whatever place in the castle she was during their getaway.

And what was worst – she used that ability to know the exact location of the Black Cauldron and transport it directly to the castle.

There it sat on a platform within the courtroom filled with the lifeless, skeletal bodies of long-dead warriors armed with weapons. Thomas, Jatniel, Benji, Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur were all restrained, their hands suspended above their heads, on a landing twelve feet up and ten feet across the platform. Hen Wen was once again chained up beside them.

From the platform, the Creeper yelled out orders to the hauler they had seen earlier, carting in another collection of bodies. He then directed his attention to the prisoners, mocking them: "Oh, I'm sorry. I've ignored you. You did come for the Black Cauldron?" He knocked at one of the side handles of the large pot, cackling maniacally. "Good...then climb right in! It'll only cost you your life!" He hung himself by the collar to derisively emphasize.

His fun came to an end at the clicking of heels, a sound he recognized as the approach of his mistress. He saw her shadow cast on the wall of the corridor leading into the courtroom and stood at attention before Nosferina herself strode right in.

"Everything is ready, my queen!"

Nosferina glanced up to the landing, eyeing each of her prisoners. "My, such a brave and handsome crew: a feeble-minded simpleton, his cowardly son, a pig-boy, a scullery maid, a broken-down minstrel, and the once-great Guardian now resorted to a dying form! To think you could have stopped me in your fruitless efforts was laughable at best!"

"Think about what you're doing, Nosferina," said Thomas, his pleading voice a stark contrast to the haunting voice of the Horned King. "Leading your Cauldron-Born army into the other worlds... I've seen what happens when you cross the realms, and it's not pretty!"

Nosferina scoffed. "You have a pitiful way of bluffing out of your predicament, Guardian."

"It's not a—!"

"SILENCE!" Nosferina's voice echoed the room, her eyes viciously glowing red. "The time has come! Now I call upon the army of the dead! The Cauldron-Born!" She proceeded to use the power of levitation to lift one of the skeletal bodies from the collection, lowering it into the cauldron. "Arise, my messengers of death! Our hour has arrived!"

The cauldron soon shook and leaked blood to the horrified eyes of Nosferina's prisoners. It then unleashed a massive pillar of fire. Streaks of it spread through the air, forming monstrous faces that made Benji cry out in terror. They were afterward sucked right back into the cauldron to the effect of another explosion.

A green mist produced, seeping across the floor and over the rotting skeletons littered about. An audience of huntsmen bore witness to the scene. One of them curiously poked at the swirling assortment of mist with his spear, only to be surprised by the reanimated corpses that sprung to life. They overpowered a few of the huntsmen and chased the others away in fear.

Eilonwy gasped at the nightmarish spectacle. "Oh! It's horrible!"

"My phantom warriors have come to life! All dead from centuries past! Never has anyone created an army like this!" Nosferina boasted, as the Cauldron-Born army made its way out of the courtroom and castle altogether. "Go forth, my deathless warriors! Destroy all in your path! Today, Prydain – tomorrow, the universe!"