by Adam Blade
Elenna nodded, and guided Storm out of Tagus’s path. The stallion was skittish but obeyed. Then Elenna called to Silver, who darted to her side.
Tagus was upon him now, but Tom did not move out of the way. The centaur reared, his forelegs striking at the air, barely missing Tom’s head, trying to fight whatever was pulling him on, but his hooves continued to drag through the mud, and he was forced farther into the marsh.
Tom leaped forward and tried to grab one of the Beast’s flailing forelegs, but it was impossible. Tagus’s head thrashed to and fro, and he thrust out his legs as if he were trying to defend himself from an unseen enemy. His skin was shiny with sweat, and his eyes rolled back in fear. With a last roar of bewilderment and rage, he broke into a gallop.
Tom’s hands clenched as he watched Tagus race across the marsh. His hooves threw up showers of mud, but he went on galloping, faster and faster, until he was a speck in the distance.
Tom turned to Elenna. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.
“Something was forcing Tagus into the marsh,” she said. “It must be Malvel.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Tom gazed out across the marsh. Tagus was now completely out of sight. Tom jumped into Storm’s saddle in front of Elenna. “Tagus was heading toward the village. We have to follow him,” he said. “Don’t you see? There is a second part to our new Quest.”
Elenna furrowed her brow and sighed. “I don’t understand.”
Tom gritted his teeth. “Malvel wants to send evil Beasts into Avantia once more. So he’s pulling the good Beasts into Gorgonia. Without the good Beasts, Avantia has no defense!”
CHAPTER FOUR
ACROSS THE DEADLY MARSH
TOM URGED STORM FORWARD THROUGH THE marsh. The stallion tossed his head nervously but kept moving, picking his way around pools covered in green scum, through reed beds, and across tussocks of grass. With every step, his legs sank deeper into the swamp.
“This is no use,” Elenna said. “The ground won’t bear the weight of Storm carrying us.”
“We’ll have to get off and walk,” Tom agreed.
Without Tom and Elenna on his back, Storm could now move more easily. Tom led him carefully, trying to find a firm track to follow. Elenna walked on Storm’s other side, and Silver brought up the rear, mud splattering all over his gray-white fur.
Tom’s feet sank into the marsh, and he felt cold water soaking through his boots. Clouds of flies rose into the air as he brushed past reed beds, and the mud he disturbed gave off a foul smell.
Elenna suddenly let out a cry of alarm as she tripped and ended up knee-deep in mud. “This is taking too long!” she exclaimed. “Malvel could be hurting Tagus while we’re stuck here like this.”
Tom gave her a hand to haul her out. He was afraid she was right, but all they could do was go on. No one else was able to help Tagus. Glancing around, he spotted a line of trees bordering the marsh in the near distance. Their branches were bare except for a few ragged leaves, and their twisted black shapes were outlined against the stormy red sky.
“Let’s head over there and walk along the edge of the marsh,” he suggested, pointing to the trees. “The tree roots will make the ground more solid and keep our feet out of the bog.”
“All right,” Elenna agreed. “We’ll certainly be able to move faster.”
Tom was glad to lead Storm up a rough slope out of the swamp and toward the trees. Silver raced ahead, then stopped to shake himself vigorously, scattering mud everywhere.
“Hey, stop that!” Elenna laughed. “I’m muddy enough, thank you.”
As Tom approached the trees, he saw that the small wood was thicker than it had looked from a distance, with a narrow path in its midst. Though there weren’t any leaves on the trees, the branches crisscrossed and shut out the light.
Tom swung himself into Storm’s saddle again. “Let’s follow that path,” he said decisively. “When we get to the other side of the trees, we should be able to loop back to the village and avoid the marsh altogether. It is out of our way, but I still think it will be faster than going across this bog.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Elenna said as she climbed up onto Storm.
Tom clicked his tongue to urge the horse into the shadow of the trees. But Storm refused to budge. He was trembling again.
“Come on, boy.” Tom flicked the stallion’s neck lightly with the reins. “We can’t stay here.”
Reluctantly, Storm began to move. Elenna called to Silver, but the wolf did not come right away. Instead, he stood stiff-legged at the edge of the trees. Elenna called again. Silver let out a chilling howl before following them into the forest, his head down and his tail drooping.
It was dark under the trees, with only a few thin beams of bloodred light finding their way through the tangled branches. The path soon grew narrower, and Tom had to guide Storm carefully to avoid sharp thorns on the bushes. Gnarled tree roots broke through the ground, waiting to trip them up.
The air was clammy, and Tom found it hard to breathe. “This is going to be our hardest Quest yet,” he said. “But we’ll come through — I know we will!”
Storm rolled his eyes and let out a loud neigh, as if he were agreeing.
“Silver hates this place,” Elenna said, glancing down at her friend. The wolf was panting, his tongue lolling out. “But at least we’re out of that awful marsh!”
Tom was about to reply when he felt something thin and sharp poke at his ribs. He looked down to see that a low branch from one of the trees was prodding him in the side. Tom pushed it away, but the branch immediately thrust forward again and poked him even harder.
“Hey, that tree just went for me!”
“It can’t have,” Elenna retorted. “Trees don’t move….”
Her voice died away as the sound of creaking and rustling rose from the forest, almost as if the trees were stretching their limbs. Above his head, Tom could see branches moving, though there wasn’t a breath of wind.
“They’re alive!” he exclaimed.
One of the branches swooped down. Elenna ducked. It retreated, but another branch attacked, its fingers raking at Elenna’s hair.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Elenna cried. “These trees want to hurt us!”
CHAPTER FIVE
MALVEL’S MAP
TUM DUG HIS HEELS HARD INTO STORM’S SIDES. “Go!” he shouted.
Storm fled along the path through the forest. Tom bent low over the horse’s neck, with Elenna clinging on behind. Silver raced along beside them.
“Come on, boy!” Tom yelled, patting Storm’s neck to encourage him. “Faster!”
On either side of the path, the trees bent over, reaching out their branches to snatch and claw at Tom and Elenna, the wood creaking with the sound of cruel laughter. Reaching down to his shield, which was fastened on Storm’s saddle, Tom rubbed the scrap of Tagus’s magical horseshoe that was fixed there. The extra speed it would give them might just save their lives.
Storm’s hooves became a blur as he thundered down the path. Thick, thorny bushes were closing in all around them, so Tom drew his sword. The skills given to him by the golden gauntlets helped him to hack a way through. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted an ivy tendril snake out toward him. It tried to snatch the weapon from his grasp, but Tom was ready for it and slashed it away.
“Tom! Look!” Elenna cried, pointing over his shoulder.
Tom saw that they were coming to the end of the forest. He pushed Storm even harder and they burst out into the open again, beneath the swirling red sky of Gorgonia.
Gradually he slowed Storm to a walk. Glancing back, he saw the whole of the forest moving, branches lashing to and fro in fury.
“What happened here?” Elenna asked, looking down at the ground.
All around them the earth was churned up. Trees had been uprooted and tossed aside, their roots twisting in the air.
“The forest has been ripped up,” Tom replied. “I don’t know
why, but it’s lucky for us. I thought we’d never make it out of there.”
“Where’s the village?” Elenna asked. “Can you still see it?”
He gazed around, looking for the landmark. Even with his magical sight, he couldn’t spot the village he had seen earlier. Just flat land. “I’m not sure where we are,” he replied truthfully. “Tearing through that forest has gotten us completely lost.”
“How about Tagus?” Elenna asked anxiously.
“No sign of him, either,” Tom said, shaking his head. “I just hope he hasn’t been captured by Malvel.” He pulled out his father’s compass again, but this time the needle swung forward and backward without giving a clear reading.
“We’d better keep going —” he began.
But just then, a sizzling sound interrupted him, and a flash of red lightning struck the ground. Storm reared with a whinny of fear, and Tom had to struggle to get him under control again.
When the horse was quiet, Tom saw that something was lying on the ground where the lightning had struck. Elenna slid down from Storm’s back and ran to pick it up.
“Careful!” Tom warned her, dismounting as well.
Elenna handed Tom what looked like a rolled-up piece of parchment. Tom shuddered as he touched it. It was greasy animal hide.
Holding it at arm’s length, Tom and Elenna unrolled it.
“It’s a map!” Elenna exclaimed. “I wonder if it’s magical, like the map of Avantia that Aduro gave us.”
Tom examined the map uneasily. The land it showed was unfamiliar, and across the top of it, in spiky black letters, was written GORGONIA. He glanced up at the stormy sky. “Did you send this, Malvel?” he shouted. “Do you think we’re going to trust it?”
A familiar cruel laugh rang out. It was Malvel, though there was no sign of the evil wizard.
“We’ll rescue Tagus!” Tom vowed defiantly. “And we don’t need your map!”
“Ah, but I think you’ll find it most useful,” Malvel whispered, and then he laughed again, the sound fading on the wind. He was gone.
Tom and Elenna looked down at the map.
“Look, here’s the Lion’s Gate into Avantia.” Elenna pointed. “That means we’re in the southwest. And there’s the forest, and here’s the marsh.”
Tom traced a line from the forest. “The village is not far from here,” he said. “And look — there’s a picture of Tagus next to it.”
The tiny image of the horse-man suddenly became animated, rearing up and stamping his hooves. His head and upper body thrashed back and forth and side to side, as if he were trying to throw off invisible chains.
“Then that’s where we must go to help Tagus,” Elenna said. “Unless you think the map is trying to trick us.”
“I don’t completely trust it,” Tom declared. “But it’s all we’ve got, so we’ll have to take a chance. If Malvel is leading us into a trap, we’ll be ready.”
He had begun to roll the map up again when Elenna grabbed his hand to stop him. “Look! It’s changing!”
Tom stared. Elenna was right. The edges of the forest and marsh were shifting, a tall and jagged rock face appeared, and a waterfall vanished. But the village stayed in the same place. All the landmarks were moving!
“Malvel’s trying to confuse us,” Tom said grimly. “He will try to make it as hard as possible for us to follow this map.”
“Still, the map might help us if we’re careful how we use it,” Elenna said.
“Yes, you’re right. Malvel thinks he can play games with us — but he’ll find out he’s mistaken. Let’s get going.”
Tom rolled up the map and stowed it away in Storm’s saddlebag. As he and Elenna climbed into the saddle again, a purple moon appeared over the trees, shedding a threatening light over the ruined forest.
Tom urged Storm forward. He felt Elenna grip his waist and knew that his friend was as determined as he was. He clenched his hands on the reins.
“Whatever the danger, we’ll face it,” he said, “for the sake of Avantia.”
CHAPTER SIX
TROUBLE IN THE VILLAGE
THE BLOODRED SUN OF GORGONIA WAS RISING again as Tom guided Storm along the rutted road that led into the village.
“At last!” Tom yawned. He was tired after traveling all night. “Maybe we can rest for a bit here and get something to eat.”
“I don’t know,” Elenna replied doubtfully. “I don’t like the look of this place. It’s as if no one lives here.”
“Maybe they don’t,” Tom replied, looking around at the crumbling stone houses. Their wooden doors and window shutters were rotting, and most of the windows were dark.
They continued on, passing more derelict houses. After a while, they could hear voices ahead. Storm trotted onward and they came upon a marketplace set on muddy ground. Ramshackle wooden stalls were set out in lines, and sellers were shouting out their wares.
“Fresh bread! Get your fresh bread here!”
“Ripe apples! Best ripe apples!”
“Pots to mend? Any pots to mend?”
Tom and Elenna dismounted and led Storm along the first row of stalls, looking at the strange piles of produce heaped up there. The turnips had two prongs, there were mushrooms growing on the apples, and the carrots were bright blue with feathery red tops. Everything was either dried up or worm-eaten. None of it was fresh.
“Look at this stuff!” Elenna whispered. “I wouldn’t want to eat it.”
“Nor would I,” Tom agreed, thinking of the plump apples and tasty pears that grew in the orchards of Avantia.
As they walked farther into the market, Tom noticed that the villagers kept turning to look at them. A stallholder froze as she was putting out her goods, sniffed the air suspiciously, then glared at them as they went by.
“What’s the matter with everyone?” Elenna asked. “Why are they staring?”
Tom shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they’ve never seen a horse as fine as Storm before.”
“That doesn’t explain why that woman sniffed!” Elenna’s voice was indignant. “Does she think we smell bad?”
The woman wasn’t the only one, Tom realized. Several of the villagers were sniffing now, as if they were picking up a strange odor.
“We can’t smell worse than anything else in this place,” Tom declared. “Just ignore them.”
A large bearded man suddenly barged into Tom’s shoulder, making him stumble.
“I’m sorry I —” the man began. Then he broke off, coughing and choking.
Tom tried to pat him on the back, but the man slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me!” he yelled. “You have the stench of Avantia on you! You’re vermin … you’re a plague!”
Letting out a roar of rage, he launched himself straight at Tom.
But Tom ducked beneath the bearded man’s meaty hands and skipped out of the way.
At once, the other people in the marketplace sprang forward, shouting and cursing. Their faces were twisted with hatred. An old woman waved her stick at Tom and Elenna and croaked, “You’ve got no right to be here!”
“Grab them!” someone else yelled.
They rushed forward but then halted as Tom drew his sword and swung it around in a circle.
“Keep back,” he warned. To Elenna he shouted, “Get on Storm now!”
Elenna jumped nimbly onto the stallion’s back. Tom was right behind her, but the bearded man leaped at him again and tried to tackle him to the ground. Once more Tom was too quick and neatly sidestepped him. The man ended up facedown in the mud.
Elenna had already set Storm into a trot, and Tom jumped up behind her.
“Go, Storm!” Elenna cried.
The stallion sprang forward into a gallop, hooves pounding through the mud of the street while Silver bounded alongside, yelping in excitement.
Tom looked back over his shoulder. Several market sellers were running down the road in pursuit. But Storm was too fast for them. They dropped back, and the sound of their
shouting died away as Tom and his friends left the last houses of the village far behind. They’d escaped!
CHAPTER SEVEN
A TRAIL OF BLOOD
AT LAST ELENNA DREW STORM TO A STOP. THE ground was covered with dead yellow grass and sloped down into a valley. A sluggish river wound its way along the bottom, with a few straggling bushes growing on the banks.
Tom looked back. There was no sign that anyone had followed them from the village. “I think we’re safe,” he said. “But how are we going to find Tagus? The map told us he was in the village, but they’ll attack us if we go back there.”
“Let’s look at the map again,” Elenna suggested, sliding to the ground.
Tom dismounted, pulled Malvel’s map out of the saddlebag, and unrolled it, trying to ignore its slimy feel. The small figure of Tagus still stood beside the picture of the village.
“The map might be wrong,” Elenna said.
Tom nodded. “Or maybe Malvel deliberately lied to us. Perhaps he wanted to lure us to the village because he knew the villagers would hate us.”
Elenna pulled her shawl tightly around her shoulders. “We were lucky to get away.”
Tom knew she was right. But now there was nothing to tell them where to go next.
“Hey, what’s that?” Elenna interrupted his thoughts.
“Where?” Tom asked.
“Over there on the grass. It looks like a trail,” Elenna replied, pointing.
Tom looked and saw a dark smear on the yellow grass, leading away over the crest of a hill. He led Storm to it, while Silver raced ahead, sniffing the ground. He let out a small whimper.
Tom examined the dark red stains. He didn’t need Silver’s nose to tell him that it was dried blood. Then he felt his shield softly vibrating on Storm’s saddle and saw that the scrap of Tagus’s horseshoe was glowing faintly!
“Oh no!” Elenna exclaimed. “It can’t be!”
“I think it is,” Tom replied, his stomach in knots. “This blood must have come from Tagus.”