Beast Quest #3: Cypher the Mountain Giant Read online

  BOOK THREE

  CYPHER

  THE MOUNTAIN GIANT

  ADAM BLADE

  ILLUSTRATED BY EZRA TUCKER

  With thanks to Kyle and Tyrell,

  my family

  Contents

  Title Page

  DEAR READER

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE: A NEW ADVENTURE

  CHAPTER TWO: SWEPT AWAY

  CHAPTER THREE: AFTERMATH

  CHAPTER FOUR: IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAINS

  CHAPTER FIVE: BURIED ALIVE

  CHAPTER SIX: DANGER ON THE MOUNTAIN

  CHAPTER SEVEN: THE COMING OF THE BEAST

  CHAPTER EIGHT: THE IMPOSSIBLE LOCK

  CHAPTER NINE: OVER THE EDGE

  CHAPTER TEN: NEW BEGINNINGS

  Copyright

  Reader,

  Welcome to Avantia. I am Aduro — a good wizard residing in the palace of King Hugo. You join us at a difficult time. Let me explain….

  It is laid down in the Ancient Scripts that the peaceful kingdom of Avantia would one day be plunged into danger by the evil wizard, Malvel.

  That time has come.

  Under Malvel’s evil spell, six Beasts — fire dragon, sea serpent, mountain giant, night mare, ice beast, and winged flame — run wild and destroy the land they once protected.

  The kingdom is in great danger.

  The Scripts also predict an unlikely hero. They say that a boy shall take up the Quest to free the beasts and save the kingdom.

  We hope this young boy will take up the Quest. Will you join us as we wait and watch?

  Avantia salutes you,

  Aduro

  PROLOGUE

  THE CARAVAN MOVED SLOWLY ALONG THE HIGH mountain road. As the slope became steeper, the horses struggled to pull the wagons loaded with goods and supplies.

  “How much longer?” a boy in the first wagon asked impatiently.

  His father looked ahead at the rock-strewn road that snaked its way up the mountainside. “Once we get to the pass, it’s not much farther, Jack,” he said, pointing to a ridge in the distance.

  Jack looked toward the ridge. Above it, dark clouds were beginning to gather. They cast long shadows down the mountainside, and the boy felt the air cool as the sun disappeared behind the clouds.

  When the caravan rounded a bend in the road, they were hit by a fierce mountain wind. Jack shivered with cold as he pulled his coat tighter.

  “We’d better hurry if we’re going to beat this storm,” Jack’s father called to the other men, his voice almost lost in the wind. “We don’t want to get stuck and freeze to death.”

  The caravan pushed on. The wind gained in strength and was now screaming through the trees. Then, as the caravan came to another bend in the road, a thunderous crashing echoed through the valley.

  Startled, Jack glanced up at the ridge. There, standing as tall as the trees, was a giant. He held a huge boulder between his clawed hands, and only had one, large eye in the middle of his forehead. Right now, that eye was fixed on Jack and the caravan.

  “Look! Over there!” Jack yelled to his father, pointing toward the nearest peak.

  “What is it, Jack?” the man asked, keeping his eyes on the trail ahead.

  “I saw — I saw —”

  But before Jack could finish his sentence, the ground began to shake. The caravan halted and the men looked around in confusion.

  They could hear a deep rumbling sound. Then, in the distance, there was a loud crack of splintering wood, as if trees were being snapped in half.

  “What’s happening, Dad?” Jack asked with panic in his voice.

  His father looked toward the ridgeline and then back at Jack. “I don’t know, son,” he said.

  It was the first time Jack had seen fear in his father’s eyes, and it sent shivers down his spine.

  As they stood there, trapped, the crashing grew louder — and nearer. The ground trembled so violently beneath their feet that it was hard to stand. The horses reared up, trying to break free of their harnesses.

  A wagon broke from its hitch and began to slide back down the road, its contents spilling everywhere. Men dove out of the way as the heavy barrels tumbled toward them. Everywhere there was chaos. Then, just in front of them, a huge boulder tore through the trees and across the narrow mountain road, nearly hitting Jack and his father.

  “Run! Run for your lives!”

  CHAPTER ONE

  A NEW ADVENTURE

  AT THE CREST OF THE FOOTHILLS, TOM AND Elenna came to a fork in the road. The road to the east continued along the ridgeline toward the farms of Avantia. The road to the north disappeared into the mountains.

  Tom knew which one they needed to take to find the next Beast.

  But Elenna hesitated. The towering mountains were wrapped in dark, ominous clouds, and Tom could sense his friend’s nervousness. He knew this was going to be even more dangerous than the last mission.

  “Don’t worry, Elenna. We’ll be okay,” Tom said.

  Then, smiling, he added, “I mean, I’ve got you and the mutt for protection, don’t I?”

  “Thank you very much!” Elenna beckoned her pet wolf, Silver, who was sniffing some bushes nearby. “Come on, boy — time to teach our friend a lesson in manners!”

  Silver shot to her side like a sleek gray arrow. Elenna pointed at Tom and the wolf playfully nipped at his heels as they set out on the road to the north.

  “Ow!” Tom cried.

  “Take it back!” Elenna demanded.

  “All right! All right! I take it back!” Tom exclaimed, holding up his shield as Silver leaped up at him. “I’ll never call him a mutt again!”

  Elenna gave a short whistle. Silver immediately left Tom and trotted to her side. Elenna shot Tom a sideways look.

  Tom smiled and nodded. They were in this together.

  Before he’d met Elenna, Tom had been chosen by King Hugo and his royal advisor, the wizard Aduro, to go on a quest. He was to save the kingdom of Avantia from the Beasts, who were under the evil spell of the Dark Wizard Malvel. Before the Quest, Tom used to think the Beasts only existed in legend. But now that he had fought two of them himself, he knew just how real they were — and how deadly they could be.

  Ever since Malvel had gained control of the Beasts through his dark magic, they had been carrying out acts of terror and destruction. Tom’s mission was to stop them. He had to break Malvel’s hold over the Beasts.

  So far, Tom had faced the fiery wrath of Ferno the Fire Dragon, and the horror of Sepron, a monstrous sea serpent. He and Elenna had only survived by working together. Now Aduro had warned them that a new danger lurked in the mountains of the North.

  Giant danger.

  Tom brought Storm to a halt and reached into one of the horse’s saddlebags. “Let’s check that we’re going the right way.” He jumped down and unrolled the magic map that Aduro had given him. Trees and hills and mountains rose up from the old parchment paper, standing as tall as Tom’s thumbnail. Near a hillside, a part of the path was glowing.

  “That’s where we are now,” Elenna said, as Storm rested his muzzle on Tom’s shoulder. “Another day’s ride and we should reach Colton.”

  Of all the towns nestled among the peaks of the northern mountains, Colton was the biggest. Tom looked at the drawing of the town on the map. It was surrounded by five mountains that rose up on all sides, jagged and forbidding. The road leading to the town was long and winding, and in one part it looked as if it was blocked. This meant they would have to find a way around. Tom had never tried to climb a mountain before and wondered if it would be as steep and dangerous as he imagined.

  “We’d better make camp
soon,” Tom said. “We’re going to need all our energy to get up that mountain pass tomorrow.”

  Elenna mounted Storm and Tom led the way with Silver. As they picked their way up the hillside, the mountains towered all around them.

  When they reached the top of the hill and paused to catch their breath, they couldn’t believe what lay before them. Mountains stretched as far as they could see. Dark shadows filled their cracks and gullies, while the peaks seemed to glow in the late afternoon sun. Like rows of sharp teeth, the mountains stood out against the deep blue sky. In the distance, near where Colton would be, dark clouds were beginning to gather.

  “It’s beautiful,” said Elenna. Tom nodded. He’d seen many things on his Quest so far, but nothing as breathtaking as this. He swallowed hard.

  As they were getting ready to continue on their way, they noticed a raggedy group of men coming down the trail toward them. Tom gripped his sword.

  One of the men called out a greeting as the group drew nearer. Tom could make out that one of them was carrying a young boy over his shoulder.

  When the group reached them, Tom and Elenna could see that the men were traders. They looked dirty and tired, and the boy appeared to be injured, his head wrapped in a bloody strip of cloth.

  “Can you help us?” the man carrying the boy asked desperately. “Do you have any water? All our supplies were destroyed.”

  Tom passed him his water canteen. “What happened?”

  “We were part of a trading caravan, bringing supplies to the town of Colton,” the man explained. “And then the ground started to shake and a rockslide came down the side of the mountain — we were lucky to survive.”

  “What triggered it?” asked Elenna.

  “We don’t know. The mountains are usually very stable. But the weather was unusual and —”

  “The giant —” sputtered the injured boy. “There was a giant —”

  Tom and Elenna exchanged glances.

  “Don’t mind the boy,” one of the men said quietly. “He got a bump on his head.”

  “No, I saw it. I swear,” said the boy. In a trembling voice, he described the violent shaking and the sound of trees being snapped as boulders tore down the mountainside.

  When the boy had finished, one of the men said grimly, “I hope you two aren’t going into the mountains.”

  “I’m afraid we are,” said Tom.

  The men looked at each other, concern on their faces. “The mountains are a dangerous place, even in the best conditions,” the leader warned. “The main route is blocked now and the weather’s been bad for weeks. I’d turn back.”

  “We don’t have a choice,” Tom said bravely.

  The trader seemed to understand. “Well, if you must go, take this.” He handed Tom a short length of rope. “It’s not much, but it’s all I have. It may come in handy.”

  It was now growing late and the sun was close to setting.

  “You’d better get going,” said the kindly trader. “There’s a good place to make camp not too far north from here.”

  “Thank you,” said Tom and Elenna. They gave the traders some more of their water and all the food they could spare, then bid them good-bye.

  Tom and Elenna took one last look at the mountains. Tom wondered if something so beautiful could be as dangerous as the traders had warned.

  Elenna mounted Storm and the four of them made their way down the other side of the hill. On their way down, the sky grew dark and it began to drizzle.

  “We’d better hurry up and make camp!” Elenna cried out. “We’re going to get soaked.”

  At the bottom of the hill, they crossed a small stream in the gully. The mountain water was crystal clear and ice cold.

  Tom knew it would be dangerous to sleep in the gully. If it kept raining, the stream might overflow and their camp would end up underwater. He scanned the next hill and spotted an outcropping of rock that would provide good shelter for the night.

  As they began their way up the next hill, Silver tensed and started to growl.

  “What is it, boy?” Tom crouched beside the wolf. He looked all around, but the whole area was deserted.

  Elenna shivered. “Let’s get going.”

  They set off again, picking a path between the trees scattered along the hillside.

  Silver growled again. Storm nickered nervously, his ears pricked up straight as his hooves skidded on the wet grass.

  Storm lunged forward and then stopped dead, all four hooves planted firmly on the ground. “Come on, Storm,” Elenna said, touching her heels to his sides. “It’s all right….” She broke off with a gasp. Storm was slowly moving down the hillside, even though he was standing still. “Tom!” Elenna cried as a rumbling noise started up. Storm started to slide more quickly. “The ground’s not safe!”

  “Get off Storm!” Tom yelled as the horse fought to keep his balance. Elenna jumped, just as Storm’s hind legs slipped from under him. With a crash, the horse fell heavily onto his side. His hooves sent great clods of mud flying into the air and Elenna fell to the ground with a cry.

  “Storm! Elenna!” Tom yelled, his voice filled with panic.

  Her eyes were wide in horror as she pointed up the hill, past Tom.

  “Mudslide!” she screamed.

  CHAPTER TWO

  SWEPT AWAY

  TOM SPUN AROUND. HE LOOKED IN SHOCK AS A sludgy torrent of mud surged down the hill toward them. It was as if the ground was melting. …

  With a terrified snort, Storm struggled back to his feet, his coat caked with mud. Silver tugged at Elenna’s sleeve, trying to drag her to safety. Tom began to carefully make his way back down the hill to his companions.

  But with a lurch, the ground gave way beneath him. Tom cried out as he was sucked into the thick, swirling muck. His back scraped over roots as he was swept down the hillside. Tom saw the terror in Elenna’s face as he rushed toward her in a mass of dark mud. As the thick wave hit her, Elenna reached for Tom’s hand. She caught hold of it for a moment, but it was soon wrenched away. Tom reached out for her again but his fingers closed on grass and mud.

  “Elenna!” he yelled.

  Storm kicked wildly as he tried to escape. Tom threw himself to one side to avoid the horse’s thrashing hooves. Elenna was swept away from Tom and her head disappeared under the mud.

  “I can’t breathe!” she yelled, fighting her way to the surface.

  “Reach out to your right!” Tom shouted. “Grab hold of Storm’s reins!”

  Blindly, Elenna reached out and managed to grab them. “Where’s Silver?” she yelled.

  As the torrent tossed Tom around, he caught a glimpse of the hillside above them — and it wasn’t good. The entire top half seemed to be collapsing behind them. Trees and bushes were tumbling into the waves of mud that were furiously ripping them from the ground. With a rush of relief, Tom saw the wolf racing along beside them on firmer ground, howling furiously. “Get away, Silver!” Tom shouted. “There’s nothing you can do to help us!”

  Tom reached out for something solid — - something to grab a hold of — anything! His hand scraped against a boulder and he managed to find a fingerhold. He fought to hang on as mud and debris rushed past him. Tom wasn’t sure how long he could keep his grip on the wet rock.

  Storm was swept farther down the hill with Elenna dragging behind, clinging to his reins. The horse’s huge flank slammed into a few tall, sturdy trees and Elenna crashed into his side. The trees were keeping both of them from being swept away — for now, at least.

  “Don’t let go of Storm’s reins, Elenna!” Tom shouted above the roar.

  Elenna gritted her teeth as she held on tight. Snorting in fear, Storm struggled to haul himself upright, leaning heavily against the trees.

  Exhausted, Tom tried to pull himself up the side of the boulder. The ground was shaking, the black mud was sucking at his ankles, but with all his strength he kept pulling himself upward. Just a little farther …

  But it was too late. With
Elenna’s screams echoing in his ears, Tom braced himself as another surge of mud hit them.

  He squeezed his eyes shut as the gritty wave tumbled over him. He was almost ripped from the boulder by the force of it. It was all he could do to drag a breath into his lungs as the mud and debris tore at his clothes and grazed his skin.

  With a final burst of strength, Tom reached for the top of the boulder. He let out a loud yell as he clawed to the top. His voice echoed above the angry churning of the mud. He wasn’t going to be defeated!

  CHAPTER THREE

  AFTERMATH

  THE MUD KEPT COMING, PULLING FIERCELY AT Tom’s legs. He could hear his knuckles pop as he strained to keep his grip on the slippery boulder. Tom thrashed his legs, trying to locate a foothold. He found one just to his right. As he gained his footing, it took some of the strain off his fingers.

  With his foot in place, Tom took a step up, and began clambering to the top of the boulder. His tired muscles trembled as he watched the mudslide become a slow ooze of debris.

  Once he was sure the danger was past, he eased himself down to the soggy ground. Tom felt a rush of panic as he looked for Elenna. All around him the hillside was destroyed. Only a few trees were left standing in the muddy wasteland. He wiped the mud from his eyes and walked in circles, looking for his friends.

  “Tom!” Elenna yelled. She was waist deep in mud, still holding tightly to Storm’s reins. Tom made his way over as they struggled to free themselves from the muck. From the other side of the hill, Silver padded his way over to his muddy companions.

  The slide had slowed to a crawl. Tom was exhausted. It felt like he was wearing a suit of armor; even the smallest movements seemed to take all his strength. Storm walked carefully to meet him. Shivering with cold, Tom gratefully wrapped his arms around Storm’s neck, sinking his hands into the horse’s thick, muddy mane. Tom let go of the horse as Elenna approached.