by Adam Blade
The track ended abruptly as they reached the top of a hill. Before them lay a sea of green trees. It stretched as far as the horizon.
“The Dark Jungle,” Elenna said in awe. “It’s bigger than I’d imagined.”
The jungle was vast. Above the trees, the air shimmered with heat. The only way down to the edge of the trees was straight across a marshy stretch of ground. Mosquitoes whined through the air. Storm flicked his ears as the insects darted in to bite where they could.
Tom’s heart raced with a mixture of fear and excitement as he clicked his tongue and urged Storm forward. Batting at the insects, they struggled on to the edge of the jungle.
Soon they were facing a dense wall of trees. It was hard to see far into the jungle. Strange screeching sounds could be heard high in the canopy. The air was still and expectant.
“I don’t like this,” Elenna murmured.
Tom could feel Storm tensing beneath him. He shifted the shield on his arm, bringing it close to his chest. Silver was pacing uncomfortably, his tail low and his ears flattened to his head. It was impossible to ignore the feeling of menace that surrounded the Dark Jungle.
Taking out Aduro’s map, Tom studied it once more. The golden dot of the chain mail had moved again. Now it looked very close to where they were standing. Tom squinted into the jungle.
“We have no choice, Elenna,” he said, rolling up the map. “We have to go in. We need to defeat all the Beasts and collect every piece of the golden armor before we can rescue Aduro.”
Tom thought again about the kindly wizard. He swallowed.
“We have to rescue him,” he said firmly, and urged Storm forward.
The four travelers took their first step into the jungle. Immediately, Tom noticed the heat. The hot, sticky air made it hard to breathe. He could feel his lungs straining under the pressure. Storm shook his head nervously; Silver growled softly. Fleshy jungle plants hung all around them. The air was thick with their strange and powerful scents.
“I have never seen plants like these,” Elenna said in wonder. She stretched out her hand to touch a red trumpetlike flower.
Immediately the flower snapped closed and, before Elenna could react, snakelike tendrils wrapped themselves around her arm.
“Tom!” she shrieked.
Tom pulled out his sword and slashed the tendrils away. “Touch nothing,” he warned, glancing around. He half-expected to see Malvel himself, laughing from the treetops.
The air grew thicker and darker as they pressed on, and the ground became wetter and wetter. Soon Storm was wading cautiously through dark, stinking water, his hooves sliding in the mud, his nostrils flaring at the unfamiliar scents.
“It’s OK.” Tom soothed and stroked his horse’s mane.
Halfway across the swamp, Tom dismounted. He did not want to be responsible for Storm sinking into the uncertain ground. Elenna did the same and pressed ahead with Silver.
The water was unpleasantly warm and sucked at his legs. Gritting his teeth, Tom took Storm’s reins and led the stallion gently onward. His eyes darted around, checking for signs of the Beast.
Elenna was waiting for them on the far side of the swamp. With Silver at her side, she was methodically removing the leeches that had attached themselves to her flesh. Then she did the same for Tom and Storm.
They moved on, wet and tired. At last they emerged into a sun-dappled open space.
A group of chattering monkeys suddenly swung down through the vines. Silver barked furiously and Storm reared in surprise.
Tom and Elenna dived to the jungle floor in fright.
“Stay down, Elenna!” Tom said, reaching for his sword.
Chattering among themselves, the monkeys settled in a tree and began grooming each other. Sheepishly, Tom and Elenna got to their feet, laughing nervously.
They moved on, Tom using his sword to slash through the damp green undergrowth.
Suddenly, Elenna stopped. “Look,” she said, pointing at a series of deep gashes in the tree trunks.
“Something terrible happened here,” Tom said slowly, inspecting several huge chunks gouged out of the undergrowth. Torn branches littered the ground.
Storm gave a high, anxious whinny.
Just then, they heard a rustling behind them. Tom and Elenna whirled around as a claw that was bigger than both of their heads swiped at them from high up in the trees. It was attached to a long, furry tail.
Tom pushed Elenna out of the way, and they tumbled to the ground.
A chill settled in Tom’s heart.
It was the Beast. And now the Beast knew they were here.
CHAPTER FOUR
CLAW ON THE ATTACK
TOM GLANCED UP INTO THE CANOPY OF TREES. It was almost impossible to see anything against the glare of the sun. Leaves rustled and brushed against one another. The Dark Jungle sounded as if it were laughing at its visitors.
A stench of old meat and sweat drifted down through the branches, stronger than the sickly scents of the jungle flowers.
Tom peered again. But it was no use. The Beast was too high up.
“If only I could see more clearly,” he said, frustrated. Then he remembered the golden helmet!
Quickly, he pulled it from Storm’s saddlebag and put it on, gazing through the slits of the visor up into the treetops again. Now he was able to see the gorgeous greens and vivid colors of the highest point of the jungle.
Then Tom spotted the Beast. He felt his eyes widen in disbelief.
Claw was enormous. His chest was as wide as Storm was long, and his limbs were thicker than some of the tree trunks around them. He sat hunched among the branches, a hideous creature with a lethal-looking claw at the tip of a long, snakelike tail. Huge, hairy arms, legs, hands, and feet ended in vicious, curved claws. His face was covered in matted hair, his squashed snout twisted into an evil snarl. Drool hung in ropes from his long teeth. And his fierce yellow eyes were focused directly on Tom.
There was no choice. They had to run.
“Jump up here, Elenna!” Tom cried, leaping onto Storm and throwing the helmet back into the safety of the saddlebag.
Elenna flung herself into the saddle behind him, scrabbling for a grip. But before Storm could take them to safety, a torrent of twigs, branches, and vines plunged down from the canopy, knocking Tom and Elenna from the saddle. Claw gave a screech of triumph.
Tom tried to struggle to his feet but the weight of the twisted vines was pressing down on him, like an enormous tangled net.
“I can’t move!” Elenna cried.
The more they twisted, the more tightly the vines drew around them. The stink of the Beast was everywhere. Tom’s arms were pinned down; he couldn’t reach his sword.
Claw screeched again. Then, to Tom’s horror, the Beast’s long clawed tail swung down and plucked Elenna into the air, ripping the tangled vines away from her with ease.
“Tom!” screamed Elenna.
“No!” Tom cried. He fought to escape, but there was nothing he could do.
Elenna kicked and yelled as the Beast pulled her up into the trees. Her arms flailed, hitting out uselessly at her captor.
Then there was a sudden awful silence. Where had the Beast taken her?
Silver ripped himself free with his teeth before tearing at the vines around Tom.
“That’s it, boy!” Tom shouted, struggling to free his arms. “Nearly there!”
At last, he could move his arms. Bursting free, he drew his sword and thrust it into the air.
“While there’s blood in my veins,” he vowed, “I will save my friend!”
Quickly, he cut away the vines that still bound Storm’s legs. The stallion waited patiently as Tom tugged him free.
Claw had left a trail of destruction in his wake — it would be easy to follow him. But Tom needed a plan.
Picking up the scent of his mistress, Silver threw back his head and started to howl.
“No!” Tom cried, running to the wolf. He patted the animal’s thick fur
and shushed him. Right now, noise could be deadly.
But it was too late. Behind him, Tom heard a telltale rustling. He looked over his shoulder, hooking a protective arm around Silver.
The Beast’s huge shadow spread across the clearing. Claw was back, high in the trees once more. There was no sign of Elenna. Where was he hiding her?
Tom tensed as the clawed tail flew down through the branches once again. He dived out of the way, but the claw violently slapped Silver and Storm to one side, and Tom lost sight of them. He hoped that they were all right, and concentrated on the branches, waiting for the tail to reappear.
It lashed toward him suddenly.
Tom ducked, desperate to evade the cruel claw at its tip. The Beast remained in the trees. It was impossible for Tom to see more than his tail.
Claw gibbered and whirled his tail again. This time, Tom reached out and grabbed hold of it.
“Come down, you coward!” Tom yelled, tugging at the Beast in an effort to bring it crashing to the ground.
The great ape simply lifted his tail. Yanked off his feet, Tom went flying through the air.
Tom clung on with all his strength as Claw’s tail whipped and thrashed around. The Beast roared and leaped from tree to tree. Tom swung beneath him, jagged twigs and branches tearing at his clothes. The breath was knocked out of him as the Beast slammed him into trees and dragged him through curtains of vines that scratched his face.
He’d never escape the Dark Jungle alive!
CHAPTER FIVE
FALLING
TOM COULDN’T HOLD ON MUCH LONGER. HIS clothes were torn to shreds. His arms and legs were black with bruises. There was no choice: He had to let go.
Timing it as best he could, Tom released his hold on the Beast’s tail and plummeted down through the canopy, twigs snapping in his wake. Stretching out for the nearest tree, his fingers snagged on a branch and he swung there, breathless but safe.
Above him, Claw stood up, thumped his vast chest, and shrieked at the sky. The treetops shook.
His hands scratched and numb, Tom nearly lost his grip on the branch, but managed to wrap his legs around the tree trunk. For the first time, he saw the whole of Claw as the Beast swung from tree to tree above him. The strange movement of the golden dot on Aduro’s map suddenly made sense.
The chain mail was draped around Claw’s neck.
Tom gasped with wonder at the sight. The piece of armor shimmered magically. The links seemed too fine to be made of metal, and made Tom think of golden silk knotted into a pattern sparkling in the light.
Suddenly, Claw dropped down through the trees and lunged at Tom again. The Beast’s hairy lips were drawn back, revealing his horrible, grinning fangs. Tom grabbed his sword and fought as hard as he could, but it was almost impossible to keep a grip on the tree while he swung his blade.
The clawed tail shot toward him once again. This time, it knocked Tom’s sword out of his hand. Tom watched in horror as his sword spiraled down to the ground and out of sight. Now he was defenseless.
He risked a glance at the jungle floor. It seemed a long way down, but his position on the tree trunk was dangerous. He shifted his shield farther onto his back, trying to get a better grip on the branch.
Think, Tom, he told himself fiercely.
Then it came to him.
In his shield lay the power that Cypher the Mountain Giant had passed on to him. It protected him from great heights.
Pulling his shield from his back, he held it above his head.
Then he took a deep breath and jumped.
Vines and branches whistled past, but Tom felt the power of the shield protecting him. His fall was slowing!
Even so, he hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him. Within moments, he was buried in the undergrowth. To his relief, his sword lay nearby. He stretched out a hand and grabbed it.
Claw shrieked once more, and the sound echoed around the jungle. Then silence fell. It seemed that the Beast had given him up for dead.
Tom lay as still as he could, the comforting weight of the sword in his hand. He collected his thoughts and tried to come up with a plan. But where were Storm and Silver? He hadn’t seen them since the Beast had knocked them aside with his tail. His heart lurched as he glanced around.
Then he heard Storm neigh. The ground beneath him trembled as the stallion cantered toward him with Silver close at his heels.
Storm nudged him and whinnied.
“Hush,” Tom whispered, reaching up and stroking Storm’s nose. “I’m all right.”
He peered through the leaves over his head. There was nothing in the canopy above him. Tom climbed to his feet. He could hardly believe that he had no broken limbs.
He looked at his shield and offered silent thanks to Avantia’s great Beasts who had given him their tokens of power, now set deep into the wooden face of the shield: Ferno’s dragon scale protected him from heat, Sepron’s tooth from rushing water, and Tartok’s claw from extreme cold. Tagus’s horseshoe fragment gave him extra speed and Epos’s golden feather healed wounds. And, of course, Cypher’s single tear, which protected him from great heights, had just saved his life.
Hacking his way free from the undergrowth was almost as difficult as freeing himself from the vines. The ferns of the Dark Jungle were thick and strong, and curled around him.
Then Tom felt something tickling his leg. He looked down.
A snake was coiling around his knee. Its green-brown skin gleamed in the dim jungle light. Every now and again, a thin black tongue flickered and was gone again. Its yellow eyes were fixed on Tom.
Without taking his eyes off the snake, Tom knocked the creature into the air with the tip of his sword and sliced through its body. The snake’s green-brown coils twitched and fell to the ground in two pieces. Tom sighed with relief.
Silver pressed his nose to the ground. His ears pricked and he whined. He had picked up Elenna’s scent again!
Tom leaped into Storm’s saddle. It was time for battle.
We’re coming, Elenna! he thought. Just hold on!
Silver took off, following the scent. Broken branches dangled from the trees above them as Tom and Storm galloped through the jungle after the wolf. The Beast had cut a path through the canopy that was easy to follow.
Stumbling and slipping, they raced past trunks as thick as ten men. Storm darted between trees and beneath vines, taking sharp turns and following the wolf. Alert for signs of danger, Tom watched the trees and clutched his sword.
It wasn’t long before the tangle of trees cleared a little. Silver bounded forward and Storm tossed his head, as Tom pressed his heels into the stallion’s flanks, encouraging him to gallop faster.
But something was wrong with the path in front of them. The land ahead seemed to be falling away. Storm stiffened as Tom desperately reined him in.
“Silver!” Tom cried. “Look out!”
The wolf twisted his body sharply. But it was too late. Tom watched in horror as Silver went skidding over the edge — and out of sight!
CHAPTER SIX
INTO THE VOLCANO
TOM FLUNG HIMSELF OFF STORM’S BACK AND ran to the edge of the precipice. An enormous hole in the ground lay before him. Tom felt a tremor run through his body. He had seen something like this before, when he had freed Epos the Winged Flame from Malvel’s curse. Only that had been blazing with lava and smoke. This was rich with plant life.
It was the crater of a vast, extinct volcano.
Tom remembered the horror of his battle to free Epos. He had come close to falling into the boiling lava because he had moved too near the crater’s edge, where the ground was loose. This time, he sank to his knees and crawled, just to be safe.
Far below, the heart of the crater was as dark as night. Trees grew tall, reaching up toward the blue sky, desperate for light. It was almost impossible to make out the ground beneath the luxuriant canopy of leaves.
There was no way that Silver could have survived that fall.
&n
bsp; But then Tom caught sight of the wolf’s silvery pelt. His heart leaped with joy as he saw the wolf crouched below him, on a nearly invisible ledge beneath the lip of the crater. Somehow the wolf had landed there, sparing himself from the deadly fall.
Silver stood on his back legs as Tom reached out to him, nosing thankfully at Tom’s hand. The ledge was at an awkward angle, tucked underneath the overhang where Tom lay. Reaching down, Tom sank his fingers into Silver’s thick pelt and heaved with all his might. The wolf scrambled to safety.
“Good boy,” Tom murmured, rubbing Silver’s head. He felt faint with relief.
The wolf suddenly pulled away from Tom. He ran to the edge of the precipice and sniffed at the air, growling softly.
“What is it?” Tom said, his heart filling with hope.
Silver whined and paced close to the crater, stopping just short of the edge. Stones broke away and bounced down the sheer slope, out of sight.
The golden helmet would help Tom to see what Silver had scented. He ran to Storm and lifted the helmet from the saddlebag once more. Then he placed it on his head and gazed back down at the crater.
He could see brightly colored beetles and sleeping snakes, and every leaf was pinpoint clear. Tom’s eyes swept the ground again. Then, through a crack in the canopy, he spotted Elenna in the gloom at the heart of the crater itself.
She was sitting on the ground, her head in her arms. Scattered around her were piles of gleaming bones. It was Claw’s lair!
Tom’s head was whirling. He had to defeat Claw and get the chain mail — only by completing the suit of golden armor piece by piece could he rescue Aduro. But first, he needed to save Elenna.
You can do this! Tom told himself. Take it one step at a time.
He glanced around, looking for the Beast. He didn’t want Claw to know he had found Elenna. Then he gave a long, low whistle to catch his friend’s attention. The Beast was less likely to hear him that way.