Skor the Winged Stallion Read online

  BEAST QUEST

  THE DARK REALM

  BOOK FOURTEEN

  SKOR

  THE WINGED STALLION

  ADAM BLADE

  ILLUSTRATED BY EZRA TUCKER

  With special thanks to Michael Ford

  To Connor Kennedy

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  DEAR READER

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE: A Vision in the Water

  CHAPTER TWO: Toward Danger

  CHAPTER THREE: Into the Gorge

  CHAPTER FOUR: Crossing the Bridge

  CHAPTER FIVE: Escape from the Gorge

  CHAPTER SIX: An Enemy Returns

  CHAPTER SEVEN: Finding the Winged Flame

  CHAPTER EIGHT: Facing the Winged Stallion

  CHAPTER NINE: Fight to the End

  CHAPTER TEN: A Race Against Time

  Copyright

  Welcome. You stand on the edge of darkness, at the gates of an awful land. This place is Gorgonia, the Dark Realm, where the sky is red, the water black, and Malvel rules. Tom and Elenna — your hero and his companion — must travel here to complete the next Beast Quest.

  Gorgonia is home to six most deadly Beasts — Minotaur, Winged Stallion, Sea Monster, Gorgonian Hound, Mighty Mammoth, and Scorpion Man. Nothing can prepare Tom and Elenna for what they are about to face. Their past victories mean little. Only strong hearts and determination will save them now.

  Dare you follow Tom’s path once more? I advise you to turn back. Heroes can be stubborn and adventures may beckon, but if you decide to stay with Tom, you must be brave and fearless. Anything less will mean certain doom.

  Watch your step….

  Kerlo the Gatekeeper

  PROLOGUE

  HALLAM PEERED THROUGH THE GLOOM. HE hardly dared take another step. Shafts of light danced across the rain forest floor as the canopy of leaves swayed above. Who knew what creatures lurked behind the thick trunks, or under the giant fern leaves?

  He moved slowly over the mossy ground. Noises echoed among the trees — shrill shrieks and low cackles. This place was nothing like the woodland where he and the other Gorgonian rebels used to hide. There, the worst thing a traveler might come across would be a wild boar.

  But the forest wasn’t safe now. Not since the Dark Wizard Malvel had closed his net across Gorgonia. His ruthless armies scoured the land for rebels, burning the villages of innocent people. There were Beasts, too. Hallam shuddered as he remembered the deaths of his two comrades. Torgor the Minotaur had torn them limb from limb.

  Hallam plunged on, flashing glances in the direction of every sound. His sweat-soaked clothes clung to his body. A vine brushed against the back of his neck. He reached up to brush it away, but it wriggled beneath his touch. A snake!

  “Urgh!” Hallam cried out, falling backward. The snake landed a foot away and drew itself into a coil, hissing. Its scales were a glistening yellow, its eyes bloodred. Hallam lay on the ground, frozen with fear. The snake fixed him with its eyes, its forked tongue flickering in and out, its head swaying, before it uncoiled and slithered away.

  Hallam climbed to his feet, brushing wet leaves from his tunic. He pushed on through the trees. You’ll have to be more careful! he told himself. Where there’s one snake …

  Hallam was so busy watching the trees that he didn’t notice where he was putting his feet. The next moment, he was sliding down a massive slope. The plants on either side of him were a blur as he skidded past. And then he saw what waited at the bottom.

  A pit of writhing vipers!

  He scrambled to slow himself, but the mud was too slippery. Vines broke off in his hand. He jammed his heels into the ground. A hair’s width from the deadly mass of snakes, he stopped.

  The blood thumped in his head, louder than the calls of the birds above.

  Trembling, Hallam began to push himself back up the slope.

  You fool! he thought. Malvel’s soldiers will find you if you don’t watch your step!

  He didn’t take his eyes off the snakes. He wanted to get out of the rain forest as quickly as possible.

  His back came up against a tree trunk. He gripped the bark with his palms, and then felt something soft, like … feathers. Hot breath misted the air above his head. Hallam spun around.

  A horse’s head pushed through the branches above him. But this was no ordinary horse. It towered over Hallam and stared down at him. A Beast! Hallam gasped for breath, his stomach turning over with fear. The creature’s lips drew back, revealing a set of menacing teeth, dripping with strings of saliva.

  Hallam fell to his knees at the Beast’s golden hooves. Huge wings opened from the stallion’s body, lifting it above the ground. The creature swayed among the trees, his powerful legs kicking, then he threw back his head and screeched as Hallam cowered on the ground. Silver sparks flashed from the Beast’s eyes, lighting up the glossy leaves of the jungle, before the fearsome teeth began to close in….

  CHAPTER ONE

  A VISION IN THE WATER

  “WE HAVE TO CLEAN YOU UP,” SAID ELENNA.

  Tom and his friend stood beside the river that wound through the dusty Gorgonian plains. It was nothing like the clear streams of Avantia. Here the water was brown and sludgy. Every so often, bubbles escaped to the surface, bursting and filling the air with rotten-smelling yellow gas.

  Elenna dabbed the gashes on Tom’s arm where Torgor the Minotaur’s mighty ax had wounded him. The enchanted feather in Tom’s shield, given to him by Epos the Winged Flame, had run out of power before it could heal all of his injuries. It had been Tom’s toughest fight yet, but he had managed to free Tagus the Night Horse from the clutches of Torgor. Now the good Beast was safely back in Avantia, away from Malvel’s evil.

  “Do you think the herbs will work?” asked Tom.

  Elenna smiled as she ground the herbs Tom’s aunt had given them. With some of the water from her flask, the mixture became a thick paste. Silver the wolf watched as she worked the paste into Tom’s wounds.

  “Thank you,” Tom said. He didn’t know how he would have survived without Elenna on his Quests.

  The pain in his arm began to ebb away. “It’s working!” he said.

  The memories of the battle would take longer to fade, though. Torgor was more deadly than any Beast they had faced before. If there were other such creatures in Gorgonia, Tom knew he would need all his strength and courage to defeat them.

  Elenna was bandaging the last of the linen dressings over Tom’s gashes when Silver leaped to his feet and began pacing along the riverbank, barking wildly at the water.

  Tom’s horse, Storm, stamped his hooves and shook his mane, then backed away from the river’s edge.

  “What’s gotten into Storm and Silver?” asked Elenna.

  “Something’s spooking them,” said Tom. He peered into the water. The current seemed to have stopped. Silver let out a high-pitched whine. A pool rippled in the middle of the water.

  The two friends gazed into the river as the patterns there shifted. Gradually they could see the lines of a mouth, then a nose, and then two eyes. Ripples like long white hairs framed the image. The mouth moved in little waves.

  Elenna gasped.

  “Aduro!” said Tom.

  It was their friend the good wizard of Avantia. “Greetings, Tom and Elenna,” the vision in the water said.

  “Greetings,” they replied.

  “Once again, congratulations on overcoming Torgor,” said Aduro. “Tagus sends his thanks from Avantia.”

  Elenna squeezed Tom’s arm, and Aduro continued.

  “But, as you know, my magic is weak here in Gorgonia — the gateway between worlds saps my energy.
I don’t have the power to stay with you long.”

  “Tell us, Aduro,” said Tom, “what is our next Quest?”

  “You must track down a new Beast,” said Aduro. “Its name is Skor.”

  Tom shot Elenna a look. She shrugged, looking mystified.

  Aduro’s face began to soften at the edges, and his words became distant. His magic was fading. “Beware,” he whispered. “I give you a final warning: Danger will come from both earth and air. Remember, earth and air …”

  The face melted back into the water.

  “He’s gone!” said Tom.

  “What is Skor?” said Elenna. “How can it be a danger by earth and air?”

  “I don’t know,” said Tom, “but we have to find out. We already know that Epos is in danger.” After the defeat of Torgor, the flame bird’s feather in Tom’s shield had begun to glow, calling for their help.

  Tom picked up his shield, swung it onto his back, and tightened his magic belt around his waist. Already, one of the slots contained the ruby jewel he had captured from Torgor, so he now had the ability to understand what the Beasts were thinking. But there were five slots still to fill. He wondered what new powers he would gain on this Quest.

  “Let’s see where we have to head next,” said Tom.

  Elenna opened the bag on Storm’s saddle and pulled out the map given to them by Malvel. Unlike the enchanted parchment that had guided them in Avantia, this map was scrawled on rotten animal hide. Tom shuddered as he helped Elenna unroll the greasy yellow surface.

  “Look!” said Elenna. “A path …”

  The stench of the map was overpowering, and Tom held his breath as he leaned in closer. A green line became clear against the discolored surface. It marked a route from their present location on the plains. The line snaked around steep rocky gullies and ravines, and ended in a place of tall trees many miles away. They could see the figure of a tiny phoenix hidden within the trees.

  “It’s a rain forest! And there’s Epos,” said Tom.

  “It looks dangerous,” said Elenna.

  Tom put his hand on her shoulder. “We’ve overcome thirteen Beasts already,” he said. “We can do it if we work together.”

  “We don’t even know if we can trust the map,” said Elenna. “Malvel may be leading us to our deaths.”

  Tom nodded. “Whatever Malvel throws at us, we’ll be prepared,” he said, rolling up the map. He gazed beyond the river. “Epos needs our help. We won’t fail.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  TOWARD DANGER

  STORM GALLOPED ACROSS THE DUSTY PLAINS, Silver bounding tirelessly by his side. Gorgonia’s sun was hidden behind thick banks of swirling red clouds, and the gloom seemed to press down upon them, ready to swallow them up. The stallion’s hooves struggled to find a grip on the crumbling soil, and twice he nearly fell. But Tom gripped Storm’s flanks with his thighs, watching the terrain to avoid any loose rocks.

  “Gorgonia makes me miss Avantia,” said Elenna, over the pounding of Storm’s hooves. “This feels like a land of—”

  “Death?” said Tom.

  Elenna shivered, as though a chill had run down her spine. There was no sign of life anywhere in Malvel’s kingdom, and the stench of decay filled the air. It was as though the Dark Wizard himself was following them, breathing down their necks.

  Something appeared on the horizon. Tom felt his heartbeat quicken. He tightened Storm’s reins and slowed the stallion to a canter, and he felt Elenna grip his waist. But his pulse steadied as he realized it was only a dead tree.

  It looked like a skeletal hand, reaching upward from the earth. The branches were leafless and decayed, and a huge vulture with patchy brown feathers perched there. As they trotted past, it swiveled its bald head and fixed them with a black stare. Tom could feel the scavenger’s eyes watching them as they trotted away. Silver howled nervously.

  “One of Malvel’s spies?” Elenna whispered into Tom’s ear.

  “Who knows?” Tom said, trying not to shudder.

  Soon they came to a small watering hole, which looked a little cleaner than the river. Tom and Elenna dismounted and took out their flasks, while Storm trotted over to the water’s edge. He bowed his head to drink, then sniffed and neighed. Silver flattened his ears and growled.

  “What’s the matter, boy?” asked Elenna. Then she spotted something on the far side of the pool. “Urgh!” she cried, and pointed.

  A white rib cage, picked clean of flesh, broke the surface of the water. Flies buzzed over it.

  “What do you think it once was?” asked Elenna.

  “I don’t know,” Tom replied, “but this water isn’t safe. I’d rather be parched than poisoned.” Remounting Storm, Tom stroked his mane. “I know you’re thirsty, boy, but we’ve got to keep going.”

  Storm threw back his head and shook his mane, letting out a whinny. Tom dug in his heels, and the stallion shot forward once again. They made good speed across the plains. Ahead, the air shimmered with heat, and Tom could see nothing but pale brown earth, with an occasional spiky gorse bush. But a tingle in his stomach told him something was wrong.

  After a while, the gorse bushes became thicker, and Tom had to keep his eyes on the ground to steer Storm through safely. He was worried. Was Malvel driving them into the middle of nowhere, where starvation and thirst would wear them down?

  “Look out!” yelled Elenna. Tom saw a cliff edge right in front of them. He pulled back on Storm’s reins as hard as he could, and the horse let out a terrified neigh, tossing his head in panic, his hooves skidding toward the edge of the drop and throwing up clouds of dust.

  “He doesn’t have enough time to stop!” Tom shouted.

  They were going over the edge!

  CHAPTER THREE

  INTO THE GORGE

  STORM’S BODY ARCHED UNDER THE SADDLE AS he reared back, his front hooves wheeling in the air. Pebbles clattered down into the gulley below, and the edge of the cliff started to crumble. Elenna’s fingers dug into Tom’s sides and he felt his weight shift backward. He lost his hold on the reins. But somehow Storm’s hooves found a grip. Tom heard a thump on the ground behind him, and when he looked, he could see that Elenna had fallen to safety.

  But twisting around in the saddle made Tom lose his balance. He tried to grab Storm’s mane to steady himself, but it was too late. He was falling! The empty valley opened up below him, as rocks and pebbles scattered. His body knocked into the side of the cliff … then pain jolted through his ankle. He was suspended in the air, his arms dangling. His cheeks were grazed by the rough stones, but he was alive.

  “Storm’s stirrup!” Tom shouted. “It saved me!”

  But he hardly dared to move. Only his foot, caught in the stirrup, stopped him from hurtling into the depths of the canyon. Even the magic token in his shield that protected him from falls might not be able to help him in a ravine as deep as this.

  Elenna poked her head over the cliff edge. “Hold on!” she shouted.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” said Tom.

  Then he heard her talk to Storm. “That’s right, boy, slowly,” she coaxed, encouraging the stallion to walk away from the cliff edge and pull Tom back up to solid ground. But he knew they would have to go slowly — or his foot might slip loose of the stirrup.

  Tom felt himself being gradually heaved up the cliff. As soon as he felt Storm approach solid ground, he twisted around carefully and used his arms to scramble to safety. He pulled his foot from the stirrup and lay back on the dusty earth, gasping with relief. Silver padded over to lick his face, and Tom reached out a hand to pat the wolf’s neck.

  “Thank you, Elenna!” he said. Storm whinnied. “And you, Storm,” Tom added.

  The stallion’s flank was slick with sweat and his legs were trembling.

  Elenna stroked his nose. “There, there, boy, it’s all right.” Then she stepped over to gaze down into the ravine. “Do you think anything lives down there?” she asked, her voice echoing off the rocks below.

&n
bsp; “I don’t know, but we must get across to rescue Epos,” said Tom. He pointed to the trees on the other side of the gorge. “That has to be the rain forest.”

  “But how?” said Elenna. “It’s too far to jump, even on Storm’s back.”

  The gorge was as wide as ten houses.

  Tom scanned the distance with his keen sight, one of the powers he had won during his Quest to find the golden armor. He spotted something dark arcing across the gorge. A bridge! It looked narrow and flimsy, but it was the only choice they had.

  “I can see a bridge,” he said. “We can cross there.”

  He swung himself back into Storm’s saddle and offered a hand to Elenna. She was pale.

  “What’s the matter?” Tom asked.

  His friend bowed her head in shame. “It’s just that, ever since I was young, I’ve been terrified of heights.”

  Tom climbed down from Storm and placed both hands on her shoulders. “We’ve battled thirteen Beasts and won,” he said. “I know you have the strength to meet this challenge.”

  Elenna looked up, and Tom saw her face had changed. Fierce determination shone in her eyes.

  “Let’s do it,” she said.

  The two of them scrambled into Storm’s saddle. Then Tom drove his horse in a gallop toward the bridge. Silver’s fur flattened as he bounded beside them. As the bridge drew near, Tom slowed Storm to a canter.

  “It doesn’t look very safe,” Elenna said.

  Tom felt doubt tighten his throat. The bridge that spanned the gorge looked ancient. The rope rails were thin and frayed, and the wooden planks were black with age. Then he remembered the gift given to him by the golden chain mail — strength of heart.

  “It’s the only way for both of us to cross,” he said. “But Storm is too heavy — the bridge won’t hold him. He’ll have to stay here with Silver.”

  “Yes,” said Elenna. Tom felt her twist in the saddle. “Where is Silver?”