The Fledgling 'is the seventeenth chapter of The Book of Three. The story moves towards its climax as the protagonists near their goal, while the theme of kindness for all living things takes up a new thread.
Plot[]
While on the journey to Caer Dathyl, Taran found a wounded baby gwythaint and nursed it back to health, partly because of Medwyn's words about the gwythaints and also because Taran was open to Medwyn's lesson about kindness to all living things. Doli begrudgingly consented to make a cage for it, which Taran lined with leaves for bedding.
However, the creature soon tore through its cage and escaped. Doli was indignant at Taran's foolishness, and all the Companions worried that the creature might reveal their location to Arawn. On discovering that the armies of the Horned King had overtaken them, the group feared that the warriors might reach Caer Dathyl before they themselves could warn the Sons of Don.
| The Book of Three |
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1. The Assistant Pig-Keeper | 2. The Mask of the King | 3. Gurgi | 4. The Gwythaints | 5. The Broken Sword | 6. Eilonwy | 7. The Trap | 8. The Barrow | 9. Fflewddur Fflam | 10. The Sword Dyrnwyn | 11. Flight Through the Hills | 12. The Wolves | 13. The Hidden Valley | 14. The Black Lake | 15. King Eiddileg | 16. Doli | 17. The Fledgling | 18. The Flame of Dyrnwyn | 19. The Secret | 20. Welcomes
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