Equinus the Spirit Horse

  AMULET OF AVANTIA

  BOOK TWENTY

  EQUINUS

  THE SPIRIT HORSE

  ADAM BLADE

  ILLUSTRATED BY EZRA TUCKER

  With special thanks to Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler

  For Timotej Torak with all good wishes

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Dear Reader

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE: A NEW DANGER

  CHAPTER TWO: THROUGH THE DEAD LAND

  CHAPTER THREE: CHARGE OF THE GHOST BEAST

  CHAPTER FOUR: TOM’S CHOICE

  CHAPTER FIVE: TIME IS RUNNING OUT

  CHAPTER SIX: THE EVIL WIND

  CHAPTER SEVEN: TERROR IN THE TREES

  CHAPTER EIGHT: DOUBLE TROUBLE

  CHAPTER NINE: THE FINAL BATTLE

  CHAPTER TEN: SAVED!

  Teaser

  Character Guide

  Also Available

  Copyright

  All hail, fellow followers of the Quest.

  We have not met before but, like you, I have been watching Tom’s adventures with a close eye. Do you know who I am? Have you heard of Taladon, the Master of the Beasts? I have returned — just in time for my son, Tom, to save me from a fate worse than death. The evil wizard, Malvel, has stolen something precious from me and until Tom is able to complete another Quest, I cannot be returned to full life. I must wait between worlds, neither human nor ghost. I am half the man I once was and only Tom can return me to my former glory.

  Will Tom have the strength of heart to help his father? Another Quest can test even the most determined hero. And there may be a heavy price for my son to pay if he defeats six more Beasts….

  All I can do is hope — that Tom is successful. Will you put your power behind Tom and wish him well? I know I can count on my son — can I count on you, too? Not a moment can be wasted. As this latest Quest unfolds, much rides on it. We must all be brave.

  Taladon

  PROLOGUE

  “NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO GIVE ME A DARE!” Jak told his friend Flint.

  The boys were playing on the edge of their village. The sun had almost set over Errinel and heavy shadows were creeping across the ground. The sky was the color of a deep purple bruise, but the approaching darkness just made their game of Dare even better. Flint looked around, and Jak saw his eyes light up as he pointed toward some trees in a nearby field.

  “Dare you to snatch an apple from Farmer Grindall’s orchard,” said Flint.

  “No problem!” Jak vaulted over a wooden fence, strolled into the orchard, and climbed up the tallest apple tree. He’d show Flint he wasn’t scared — even though grumpy old Farmer Grindall would chase him with a stick if he saw him.

  As he reached the top branch, he had a good view of the road that led away from the village and ran alongside the boundary of Avantia, King Hugo’s kingdom. It was marked by a high, forbidding wall with an old iron gate, but even from his position in the tree, Jak couldn’t see over it. Beyond the wall was the Forbidden Land. Jak knew that no one ever went near that place. The other villagers wouldn’t even talk about it. But looking at the black, sinister wall gave him an idea for the best dare ever!

  He plucked an apple, swung down from the tree, and jumped back over the fence.

  “You win that one,” admitted Flint, as Jak tossed him the apple.

  “Now here’s your next dare,” said Jak. “It’s so frightening I bet you won’t do it.”

  “Nothing’s too frightening for me!” Flint said confidently.

  “I dare you to go into the Forbidden Land!” challenged Jak. He folded his arms, sure that his friend would admit defeat.

  But Flint didn’t say a word. Instead he strode down the road to the gate in the wall.

  Jak ran after him, his heart beating hard. “You don’t have to do it,” he called. “It was just a joke.”

  “I never say no to a dare,” said Flint as he grasped the ironwork and began to climb.

  “Then I’m coming with you.” The gate was rusty and felt unstable beneath Jak’s grip as he scrambled up it. He climbed on. He couldn’t let his friend go alone.

  The boys were soon sitting astride the gate, staring in amazement at the sight before them. The Forbidden Land was gray as far as the eye could see. The ground was covered with a thick layer of dust and the only trees that grew nearby were blackened and gnarled.

  “It’s horrible!” Flint said with a gasp.

  “Everything is so dead looking,” murmured Jak in reply.

  They slid to the ground of the Forbidden Land and walked slowly away from the gate. Their boots left deep prints in the ashlike powder. Jak saw his friend shiver.

  “We’ve done the dare,” Flint said. His voice sounded odd and flat in this strange place, and the gate suddenly seemed a long way away. “Let’s get back.”

  Jak nodded, but suddenly spotted something on the horizon. “What’s that?”

  Flint followed his gaze. “It looks like a dust cloud.” His face looked worried and he glanced down at his feet. “Can you feel the ground?”

  Jak could. The gray earth beneath their feet was vibrating and sending shudders up their legs.

  “Something’s coming,” he whispered. The boys stood transfixed as the cloud of dust got nearer and the vibrations coming from the ground became stronger.

  “It’s a horse!” Flint exclaimed, peering into the distance. “And it’s big.”

  Jak looked hard. His friend was right. He could just make out a glint of hooves and he realized that the hoofbeats must be causing the vibrations. He caught a glimpse of a man sitting tall in the saddle.

  “I wonder who the rider is,” he said as the horse got closer. “No, wait …” With rising horror, he saw that the man’s body was joined to the horse. It was some kind of Beast — part man, part horse. But the Beasts didn’t exist, did they? They were just made-up stories of Avantia that Jak repeated when he wanted to scare his little brother.

  The Beast suddenly became transparent and Jak felt his jaw drop open in shock.

  “I can see right through him.” Flint swallowed nervously. “He’s a ghost. And he’s coming straight at us!”

  Jak and Flint dashed for the gate, their feet churning up the gray dust. The Beast was getting closer, but the boys were fast runners. We’re going to make it, Jak thought with relief. But just as they got to the wall, Flint tripped and fell, sprawling into the dust.

  Jak quickly helped him stand, but above their heads came an almighty roar. The friends looked up. The Beast, solid once again, was on top of them and rearing up on his hind legs, ready to crush them. Jak gazed at the Beast and saw an expression of joy and delight etched onto his skeleton-like face.

  The boys were paralyzed with fear and screamed as the terrifying Beast lunged down. Jak felt an icy cold feeling sweeping over his whole body and gasped as he realized that the Beast had turned ghostly again and had somehow passed straight through him. Tears of despair trickled down Jak’s face as he felt something being torn from him. He forced himself to look at Flint. His friend stood pale and expressionless.

  With his last thought, Jak knew what had happened to them both. The Beasts were real, after all. And this one had taken their life force….

  CHAPTER ONE

  A NEW DANGER

  TOM MADE HIS WAY THROUGH THE MINE tunnels with Elenna close by his side. He could see daylight ahead. Only moments before, they had defeated Nixa the Death Bringer, one of Malvel’s evil Ghost Beasts, and Tom was glad to be leaving the dark and the memories of the shape-shifter behind.

  “We’ll soon be out of here,” declared Elenna, tightening the coil of rope around her waist
. “And the sooner, the better.”

  “It was a hard Quest,” said Tom. “But we won in the end.”

  “And we’ve got back the first piece of the amulet for your father,” said Elenna with a grin. “I know we’ve got five more to go, but it’s a good start.”

  “My father looked stronger already when he appeared to us just now, didn’t he?” Tom asked eagerly.

  Elenna nodded.

  Tom felt a surge of happiness. He had grown up not knowing whether his father, Taladon, was alive or dead, but two days ago Tom had come face-to-face with him. He’d discovered that his father was a ghost stranded between the real world and the spirit realm. Malvel’s evil magic had done this, and the only way to make Taladon flesh and blood again was to locate the six pieces of the Amulet of Avantia and fit them all together. This was Tom’s Quest, but it would not be easy to recover the amulet fragments because each of them was guarded by one of Malvel’s Ghost Beasts.

  Tom touched the first piece of the amulet that hung from the leather cord around his neck. Taladon had told them that the second piece was guarded by Equinus the Spirit Horse.

  “Father said Equinus would be a dangerous foe,” Tom commented. “But we won’t let that stop us.”

  “No, we won’t,” Elenna said determinedly. “Look, we’re leaving the mines at last!” They ran out of the tunnel.

  As they blinked in the sunlight, they heard a friendly whinny and a happy howl. Storm, Tom’s stallion, and Silver, Elenna’s wolf, came charging over to them.

  “Thank you for waiting so patiently,” Tom said to Storm as he stroked the horse’s glossy black neck.

  “I think they’re glad to see us!” Elenna laughed. Silver was jumping around her in circles excitedly.

  “Now that the team’s all together, we can start our next Quest.” Tom held out his hand. “Map,” he called.

  The air in front of them shimmered and the map that Aduro had given to Tom materialized. They would have to fight Ghost Beasts — so the map itself was ghostly. It hung in the air before them, showing the whole dusty, gray Forbidden Land.

  “We’re here.” Elenna pointed to the rocky mouth of the mine on the map.

  “And that’s the way we must go!” exclaimed Tom, as a glowing path appeared that led in a straight line across the map and into a tangled knot of trees. “To that forest in the east.” Tom stared at the trees on the map. They looked dark and forbidding. He knew that somewhere among those trunks lurked Equinus.

  Tom flicked open the brass lid of the compass that his father had given him. He did not need to look to remember the words inscribed on the bottom: For My Son. They always filled him with a warm glow. He located east on the navigational instrument and pointed in that direction. “We have a long journey ahead of us,” he said. “It’ll be quicker if we ride.” He swung up onto Storm’s back and held out a hand to Elenna.

  “The beginning of another adventure!” cried Elenna as she climbed up behind him. She sounded excited, but Tom could sense that she had the same fears as he did. The two friends had already met many fearsome and terrifying Beasts on their Quests.

  What new terrors awaited them now?

  CHAPTER TWO

  THROUGH THE DEAD LAND

  “I WONDER WHAT EQUINUS WILL BE LIKE,” said Elenna as they cantered along, Silver bounding eagerly at Storm’s heels. They had traveled a long way from the mine, but the land was still just as flat and gray in all directions.

  “Equinus can’t be worse than Nixa the Death Bringer,” Tom answered. “She was one of the most devious Beasts that we’ve ever met.” He peered ahead across the plain. On his Quest to save a good Beast, Sepron the Sea Serpent, from the clutches of Malvel, Tom had been given a golden helmet with the gift of wonderfully sharp eyesight. He no longer had the helmet, but the ability had remained with him. However, there was no sign of the forest they were heading for, just more dull, gray land with one or two ashen bushes and solitary trees here and there.

  “This isn’t the most cheerful place we’ve ever been,” said Elenna. “Even the sunshine doesn’t feel warm.”

  Tom looked up. The sky was bright, but it was a cold, dead light, and the air was heavy with a stale and musty smell.

  “I don’t think we’ve ever been anywhere as desolate,” he said. “Gorgonia was frightening, but this is just so … empty.”

  “Nothing but dust,” agreed Elenna. “Poor Silver’s getting covered in it.” She leaned down to her pet wolf. “Sorry, boy. Wish you could ride with us, but there’s not enough room!”

  Silver sneezed and shook himself, throwing out gray clouds all around him.

  They rode on.

  “I can see treetops!” Tom said suddenly. He reined in Storm and looked intently into the distance. “It must be the forest.”

  “At last!” exclaimed Elenna.

  He squeezed Storm’s flanks with his legs, and the stallion snorted and set off at a gallop. Silver bounded ahead.

  But as they neared the trees, Storm’s pace slowed to a trot and Silver hung back. Tom tried urging Storm to go faster, but the stallion would take only anxious steps forward, glancing nervously to the left and right. Tom felt Elenna’s grip tighten around his waist. She was apprehensive as well. He put his hand to his sword and felt its strength. He knew he must be strong, too. If there was a Beast waiting for them here, when might it appear? Was Equinus hiding in the shelter of the trees?

  As if in answer to Tom’s unspoken question, an ear-piercing scream split the air.

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHARGE OF THE GHOST BEAST

  STORM REARED UP AT THE TERRIFYING SOUND, his front hooves flying. Tom and Elenna clung on as the stallion bucked and twisted in terror.

  Then Tom vaulted quickly out of the saddle. “Hold on tight!” he shouted to Elenna. “I’ll try to calm him down.” Dodging the flailing hooves, he leaped at Storm’s bridle and gripped it hard.

  The stallion’s nostrils were flared and his flanks heaved. It took all Tom’s strength to hold on to the terrified horse, and he could see that Elenna was only just managing to remain seated. Tom stroked Storm’s head and spoke to him soothingly, and almost instantly the horse began to settle. Elenna slipped from the stallion’s back, looking stunned.

  “Thanks, Tom,” she said. Silver creeped to her. Hackles rising, he cowered at her feet, growling softly.

  “What could have made that noise?” said Elenna with a shiver. “It sounded as if it was coming from the trees.”

  “I don’t know,” answered Tom. “But whatever it is, we must be ready for it.”

  Just then, Elenna gave a cry of warning as a huge shape, shrouded in a cloud of dust, came crashing out of the trees.

  Tom looked more closely. It was a Beast. He had the torso of a man and the body of a horse, and was heading straight for them. “Equinus!” Tom breathed.

  “He’s just like Tagus!” Elenna said. “But much bigger.”

  As the cloud of dust parted, Tom could see who he was facing more clearly. The sight made his blood run cold. Even from this distance, he could see the evil flashing in Equinus’s blazing eyes. The Beast’s long brown hair lashed the air behind him, and his hideous skeletal face was parched dry, like the land all around them.

  Elenna put a reassuring hand on Silver’s back. He whimpered, pressing hard against her leg. Meanwhile, Tom struggled to hold on to Storm’s bridle — the terrified stallion was tossing his head and trying to pull away.

  Tom felt the ground vibrating beneath his feet as the Beast galloped toward them, churning up great clouds of dust. The force of his pounding hooves broke apart the dry earth and cracks snaked toward them and spread out around their feet.

  “Get behind me, Elenna.” Tom gave her Storm’s reins and drew his sword.

  He frowned as he saw that the Beast’s form was changing. One minute Equinus was solid, his skin the color of cold ivory and his flank an ashen gray, but the next Tom could see the forest through his body. Tom realized that Equinus could
take either a solid or a ghostly form when he wished, just like Nixa — and that made him a most dangerous enemy. As the Beast drew closer, Tom saw the spirit horse’s heart throbbing in his chest. He felt a new thrill of horror run through him. This was no ordinary heart. This heart was as black as night.

  Tom knew that he must not let his friends face such a foe. Controlling his own rising fear, he held up his wooden shield. It gleamed with the six tokens given to him by the good Beasts of Avantia. Each token had helped protect him on his Quests, and the thought gave him the courage he needed now.

  “While there is blood in my veins I will not fail in my Quest!” he shouted. Swishing the sword fiercely above his head, he leaped forward to meet the Beast. But as he charged, he realized that he was not alone. Silver was running alongside him, barking wildly, and Elenna was on his other side, bow and arrow ready in her hands. Tom’s heart leaped as he caught sight of his brave stallion galloping ahead. They had all come to help him.

  Equinus had taken his solid form again now. His mighty bulk reared up in front of Tom. Gripping his sword tightly in both hands, Tom made a great arc in the air just as Equinus came down toward him. The Beast dodged the sword and landed with a clattering of hooves. Equinus turned to face him again. There was a sudden, terrible silence. The Beast’s blazing eyes bored into Tom’s and one of his giant hooves pawed the ground like a bull, ready to charge.

  Slowly, they began to circle each other. Sword at the ready, Tom kept his eyes fixed on his enemy. Looking at the Beast’s heaving chest and massive muscles, Tom could see that strength alone would not be enough to defeat him. He knew that Elenna was standing a little way back with Storm and Silver at her side, but he sensed that even the four of them might not be a match for this mighty enemy.

  Equinus’s eyes were bloodred with evil hatred and he tossed his head from side to side angrily. Suddenly, he lunged forward, and Tom only just managed to beat him back with fierce thrusts from his sword. Tom pressed his advantage but caught his foot on a root, stumbled, and fell. The Beast reared up, foam flying from his snarling lips. Elenna cried out in alarm, and Tom saw her shoot an arrow at the flank of the Beast. It bounced off harmlessly, but it was enough to distract Equinus. The Beast now turned to face Elenna.