by Adam Blade
THE DARK REALM
BOOK SIXTEEN
KAYMON
THE GORGON HOUND
ADAM BLADE
ILLUSTRATED BY EZRA TUCKER
With special thanks to Allan Frewin Jones
For Harvey
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
DEAR READER
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE: DEADLY FLOWERS
CHAPTER TWO: KAYMON’S POWER
CHAPTER THREE: THE BINDING CHAIN
CHAPTER FOUR: THE BEAST ON THE BATTLEMENTS
CHAPTER FIVE: THE EVIL CASTLE
CHAPTER SIX: THE DUNGEONS
CHAPTER SEVEN: DEFEAT!
CHAPTER EIGHT: BRAINS AGAINST BRAWN
CHAPTER NINE: SHADOW PLAY
Also Available
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
THE NIGHT WAS DARK AS THE INJURED REBEL limped away from the castle on the moor. He had used a smuggled metal file to saw through his shackles, and the jagged-toothed edge had slipped and cut into his skin. The pain in his ankle burned, but he was desperate to get away from that terrible place.
He thought of his fellow rebels languishing in the castle dungeons. Many of them had planned to escape with him, but it seemed he had been the only one to make it over the drawbridge. He threw himself under a gorse bush, gasping for breath.
“I need to rest,” he muttered to himself.
After a while he crawled out and cautiously lifted his head. He frowned. A thick gray fog was sweeping across the moor like a ghostly tide, drowning the hills and valleys. The fog would make it harder for the soldiers to find him. But it would also make it difficult for him to see the prearranged signal lights of the rebels’ friends.
The man stood up, staring into the blinding fog.
Where were the lights?
Wait!
He narrowed his eyes, peering into the distance. Then his heart leaped. He could see two lights, yellow dots, blurred by the fog. The signal!
He stumbled forward on his bleeding feet. Rescue was near. The lights were growing larger now, as if the bearers of lanterns were moving toward him. Two men, he assumed, walking side by side.
“Freedom or death!” he called. It was the agreed password.
He paused, listening for the response. But all he heard was a low moan that echoed through the fog.
He shivered and frowned again. He yelled the password once more.
Now the two lights were moving swiftly toward him. But although they rose and fell in a curious loping manner, they always kept exactly the same distance apart. Then a second low moan rumbled through the fog, and this time there was another noise — the unmistakable sound of large teeth snapping.
Suddenly, something huge came hurtling toward him out of the fog. The man let out a cry, throwing up his arms to protect his face. Through his fingers, he saw the salivating fangs of an enormous hound. The lights he’d seen were the Beast’s ferocious yellow eyes!
A moment later, the snarling creature was upon him, throwing him onto his back, its savage claws ripping at his chest and face….
CHAPTER ONE
DEADLY FLOWERS
TOM AND ELENNA STOOD IN THE BOW OF THEIR boat as they returned to the shore of the Black Ocean. With the defeat of Narga the Sea Monster, another good Beast of Avantia had been freed — Sepron the Sea Serpent. The two friends leaped down onto the beach, eager to be reunited with their animal companions. Silver the wolf let out a howl of delight, and Storm, Tom’s black stallion, reared, neighing triumphantly.
Tom and Elenna already knew that another Quest lay ahead. Wizard Aduro, their friend and mentor, had briefly appeared on the ocean waves, warning them that they would soon face another evil Beast: Kaymon. But he hadn’t given them any more details.
Tom touched the blue sapphire from Narga’s tooth, which he had won in the last fight. He had placed it in his magic belt next to the ruby, which gave him the ability to understand the good Beasts, and the emerald with its power to heal broken bones. This new jewel gave him a knife-sharp memory. When he touched it, he remembered all the battles he had won in his Quest to rid Avantia of the Dark Wizard Malvel.
“Tom, look!” said Elenna.
Tom turned and saw that his companion was looking at the greasy, foul-smelling map of Gorgonia that Malvel had given them. She was pointing to a tiny picture of Tartok the Ice Beast that had appeared on the map.
Tom felt a sharp tingling in his shield. Tartok’s claw, embedded there with the tokens of the other five good Beasts, was quivering.
Tom looked back at the map and the little image of Tartok. “Don’t worry, my friend,” he said. “We’ll save you!”
“It looks as though she’s being held captive somewhere in the south of Gorgonia,” Elenna said. “But what kind of Beast could take her prisoner? She’s one of the strongest of the good Beasts.”
“Aduro said Kaymon was more evil than we could possibly imagine,” Tom warned her.
“But what can that mean?” Elenna wondered aloud.
“I think it’s time we found out,” Tom replied. The thought of Tartok being held prisoner burned his heart. “Come on, Storm — we have work to do!”
He leaped into the saddle and extended an arm to help Elenna up behind him.
“To the south!” Tom cried. “Let’s rescue Tartok!”
The noble stallion galloped beneath the seething red Gorgonian skies, Silver at his side. Tom shivered, looking up at the red clouds that rolled and swirled above their heads. He would never get used to this terrible land!
“Don’t forget to avoid the quicksand we wandered into before,” Elenna said.
Tom nodded. “I remember it perfectly,” he told her. “In fact, I can remember every hill and valley of this part of Gorgonia, thanks to Narga’s sapphire.”
“That’s good,” Elenna said. “Especially since we can’t completely trust Malvel’s map. Remember the trouble it got us into last time?”
Soon the Black Ocean was far behind them and the sun was low on the horizon. They entered a grim landscape of broken hills.
“Have you noticed it’s getting much hotter?” Tom said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “It must be terrible for Tartok to be imprisoned here.” The ice beast was used to Avantia’s northern ice fields, her thick black fur protecting her from bitter winter winds.
As they reached the top of the first hill, they found themselves staring into a wide valley filled with bluebells.
“Oh, how beautiful!” Elenna said. “I would never have expected to find such lovely flowers in a place like this.” She frowned. “But what’s that shape in the middle? I can’t make it out.”
Tom peered across the valley. Although the precious suit of golden armor had been returned to Avantia, he still possessed its powers, and the armor’s helmet allowed him to see far into the distance.
“It’s Tartok!” he said. “The poor Beast is chained to a rock!”
Shackled to a huge rock of amber, Tartok still looked majestic, her thick dark fur glowing under the red clouds. But she was wrenching and tearing at the chain, clearly in great distress.
“That’s so cruel!” cried Elenna. “How could anyone cause her so much pain?” She sprang down from the saddle and began to run down the hillside. Silver ran beside her as she headed toward the blue sea of flowers.
“Be careful!” Tom called, urging Storm down the hillside after them. He wasn’t at all sure about those bluebells, which had turned toward Elenna, almost as if they knew she was approaching.
“Wait!” Tom shouted, as Elenna and Silver waded into the waist-high flowers.
A moment later Elenna stopped and began beating at the flowers with her hands.
“Tom! Help!” she shouted.
At her side, Silver was leaping back and forth, howling and snarling as though he were being attacked by an invisible enemy.
Tom could see what was happening. The dark red stamens of the flowers were stabbing like tiny daggers, hemming Elenna and Silver in with their needle-sharp blades.
Silver was yelping in pain. “Ouch!” Elenna cried. “Tom — it’s so painful.”
Tom pulled on his reins and brought Storm to a halt. He swung down from the saddle. There was only one thing he could do. Gripping his shield, Tom drew his sword and swung his blade through the vicious flowers, cutting a path toward his friends.
The flowers stabbed at him as he raced through. He felt pain as sharp as wasp stings as he sliced through the stems. Using the speed given to him by the golden leg armor, he quickly reached Elenna and the wolf.
“Come on!” Tom called, alarmed to see that the bluebells were swarming behind him, lunging forward to fill the gap that he had made.
Elenna and Silver raced along with Tom close behind. The flowers writhed all around them, lunging at them like snakes. At last they came diving out of the flowers, skidding in the dust as they reached safety.
Tom stared out over the bluebells. Tartok was still in the center of the flowers, looking toward him in desperation. She lifted her arms and rattled her chain in anguish.
“The evil flowers are all around her,” Tom said. “How will we ever be able to reach her?”
Then a low, mournful howl came echoing across the valley.
Tom and Elenna looked at each other.
“What was that?” Elenna asked.
Tom gripped his sword firmly. “Kaymon!” he said.
CHAPTER TWO
KAYMON’S POWER
THE EERIE HOWL RANG OUT AGAIN. “It sounds so lonely,” Elenna murmured, her voice trembling.
“But it sounds evil, too,” Tom said, as a third howl drifted on the wind. “Look!” He pointed to a dark shape on the hilltops to the west, silhouetted against the bloodred disk of the setting sun. With his extrakeen vision, Tom could see terrible yellow eyes that shone with a wicked light.
“It’s a hound, Elenna!” he said.
A moment later, Kaymon came leaping down from the hilltop, still some distance away but hurtling rapidly toward them with gnashing, slobbering fangs. Soon she was crashing through the blue flowers. Her teeth ripped the heads off the flowers, and her huge feet crushed them as she tore a path toward Tom and his companions.
Storm tossed his head, his eyes rolling, as the hound drew rapidly closer. The fur bristled all along Silver’s grizzled back and he bayed, pawing the ground.
Kaymon was as large as a bull and her thick black fur was tangled and caked with filth. And there was a smell, too — a foul, choking stench that made Tom reel.
As the Beast pounded forward, Tom saw the evil light in her eyes and the terrible strength of her shoulders and flanks. He also noticed something else — the Beast wore a thick collar of twisted gold around her neck, and set deep into the precious metal was a huge white diamond.
Tom caught hold of Storm’s reins and stepped in front of Elenna, drawing his sword.
“Keep back!” he said to his friends. He waited, sword in hand, as the hound came crashing out of the flowers.
Suddenly, Silver jumped past him, his teeth bared as he sprang at the Beast’s throat.
“Silver, no!” Tom shouted.
But the wolf ignored his cries. Leaping high with his jaws wide, he sank his teeth into Kaymon’s neck.
The hound snarled and howled, shaking her head as she tried to free herself. But Silver’s jaws held her in a deadly grip, his claws ripping at the Beast’s fur.
For a few moments Silver put up a tremendous fight. But then Kaymon let out a ferocious roar and her whole body suddenly began to swell, writhing and distorting and changing shape so that Silver lost his grip and was thrown off.
“What’s happening?” Elenna cried.
“She’s changing!” Tom shouted in horror.
Instead of one hound, there were now three! Tom stared in disbelief, his heart almost stopping in his chest.
Each of the Beasts was as huge and as savage as the first, and all three turned on Silver as he stood panting and snarling.
“He doesn’t stand a chance!” Elenna cried as the hounds leaped on the startled wolf.
Silver vanished from sight under the dark bulk of their powerful bodies, his angry growls drowned out by the snapping and snarling of the three hounds.
Tom turned to Elenna. “Take Storm’s reins,” he said urgently. “I have to rescue Silver!” He tightened his grip on his shield and brandished his sword as he ran forward.
One of the hounds turned from the wolf, her yellow eyes blazing. A moment later and she was in the air, leaping at Tom’s head.
“Watch out!” he heard Elenna shout.
Tom lifted his shield to deflect the sharp claws that were reaching out to gouge his eyes. The weight of the hound sent him staggering backward and he almost fell, but he managed to hold his ground, digging in his heels. Using the strength given to him by the golden breastplate, he used his shield to block the hound’s charge and send her crashing to one side. Then, with a sharp twist of his wrist, his sword pierced the hound’s thick fur. Dark blood spurted from the wound as the hound yelped in pain and turned tail, running away into the dusk.
Tom saw a second hound racing toward Elenna and Storm. Swift as lightning, Elenna fitted an arrow to her bow and let it fly. She shot three arrows, one after another, into the Beast as she hurtled toward Elenna. The third arrow embedded itself deep into the hound’s leg. Howling wildly, the evil creature twisted around, trying to bite at it.
“Well done!” Tom shouted, running toward his friends. The wounded Beast came to a tumbling halt; then she, too, raced away, snarling with pain. They had beaten two of the evil Beasts!
But the third hound was standing over Silver. The wolf was lying on the ground, dreadfully still. Tom’s heart was in his throat. Was Silver already dead?
“No!” Tom yelled, running swiftly toward the third hound, his sword flashing.
Kaymon turned, her jaws opening and her eyes burning with ferocious evil.
For a moment Tom and the evil Beast looked into each other’s eyes.
Then Tom raised his sword, aiming to plunge it into the monster’s chest. But the hound turned and raced away through the sea of flowers, following the other two fleeing Beasts toward the distant hills.
“Come back and fight!” Tom shouted after them. He ran into the bluebells, beating the darting stamens back with his shield, determined to follow the escaping Beast.
But a whimper from Silver stopped him. He paused, looking over his shoulder to where the wolf lay on the ground. Elenna knelt at Silver’s side, cradling the wolf’s head in her lap. Storm stood over them, whinnying anxiously.
Silver was badly injured, his flesh torn open all along his neck and flanks, his fur matted and blood-soaked from the claws and fangs of the three evil hounds.
“I can’t leave Silver like this!” Tom murmured. But before going
to the wolf, he lifted his sword and shouted, “No matter how far you run, Kaymon, we will meet again. I promise!”
CHAPTER THREE
THE BINDING CHAIN
SILVER LAY PANTING WITH QUICK, SHALLOW breaths, his eyes rolling back and his tongue lolling. Tom shuddered at the sight of the wolf’s bloody wounds. Some of his ribs looked broken.
Elenna wept, gently stroking Silver’s neck, her tears mingling with the blood on his fur. “Can you save him, Tom?”
“I still have Epos’s healing token, as well as the emerald,” Tom told her. “I’m sure they’ll be powerful enough to make Silver well again.”
Tom hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. The healing token and the emerald had only previously been used on himself and on the good Beasts — he had no way of knowing if they would work on Silver.
He knelt at the wolf’s side, taking the flame bird’s feather from his shield and the emerald from his belt. He touched them against the worst of Silver’s wounds — a hideous gash on his side — and the broken ribs.
Tom felt a sudden surge of energy, and pulses of red and green light flashed through his fingers as the healing power of the two tokens began to work together.
“His ribs are mending,” Tom whispered. “Look!”
The arc of Silver’s ribs was returning and the wounds were closing, the blood around them disappearing.
“Yes, I can see!” Elenna gasped, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Tom — that’s wonderful!”
The energy sent a tingling power up Tom’s arm as he watched the broken ribs knit together under the flesh. In a few more moments the gray fur was thick again over the healed wounds. But the poor wolf was still weak and exhausted from his ordeal.
Tom stood up, staring out across the sea of blue flowers to where Tartok was still held captive, chained to the amber rock. The light was fading rapidly now, the amber glowing in the dusk. Now that Silver was better, it was time for Tom to act! There was no time to waste.