by Adam Blade
AMULET OF AVANTIA
BOOK NINETEEN
NIXA
THE DEATH BRINGER
ADAM BLADE
ILLUSTRATED BY EZRA TUCKER
With special thanks to Cherith Baldry
For Miroslav Torak with all good wishes
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Dear Reader
Prologue
CHAPTER ONE A FATHER RETURNS
CHAPTER TWO MAN OR GHOST?
CHAPTER THREE NEW QUEST
CHAPTER FOUR BRUSH WITH HOME
CHAPTER FIVE DOUBLE TAKE
CHAPTER SIX THE SOUND OF EVIL
CHAPTER SEVEN A TOUCH OF MAGIC
CHAPTER EIGHT INTO THE CAVE
CHAPTER NINE STRENGTH OF THE SWORD
Teaser
Also Available
Character Guide
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
FARMER GRETLIN STOOD AT THE EDGE OF HIS wheat field. Two days ago, the wheat had stood waist high, shining golden in the sun. Now it was dull gray, almost black, and a damp, musty smell came from it.
“This is worse than the time the crops were scorched by fire,” Gretlin muttered to himself. “Is Errinel under threat again?”
Gretlin strode out into the wheat field, pushing aside the gray, dying stems. He was desperately searching for any patches that were still untouched by this evil blight. At the opposite side of the field the wheat was still golden, but most of his crop had been destroyed.
The harsh rays of the morning sun slanted down, dazzling Gretlin as they struck something on the ground. Shielding his eyes, the farmer bent down and saw a strange metallic object half-buried.
As he reached to pick it up, the wheat rustled around him, though there was no wind. The stalks curved and swooped, like dozens of arms trying to hold him back.
Confused, Gretlin backed away from the metal object. The wheat hissed and thrashed around him. “It’s alive!” he whispered, turning to flee.
He pushed his way through the writhing stalks of wheat to the edge of the field, then halted as he heard a voice carried on the breeze. He pressed his hands to his ears as the sound slashed at them like a razor.
Looking to see where the voice came from, Gretlin spotted a woman at the opposite side of the wheat field, where the crop still grew tall and strong. She was slender, with long golden hair; she wore robes of scarlet silk that floated out around her as she walked toward the farmer. She cast handfuls of glittering dust over the wheat, and where it fell the golden stalks shriveled and turned gray. Around her feet were the still bodies of other villagers, slumped on the ground.
“Hey!” Gretlin shouted. “Stop that!” Angrily, he began to run toward the woman, waving his arms above his head. “Get away from my wheat!”
The woman glided up to him, her bare feet hardly touching the ground. She held out her hand. A strange silver object with a sliver of blue enamel rested on her open palm. It looked like the thing Gretlin had seen half-buried in the field.
Squinting in the sunlight, Gretlin could see that it was a piece broken off from something bigger. He could just make out faintly etched marks on one side. Then he gaped in astonishment as he realized that the scrap of metal wasn’t resting on the woman’s hand — it was floating just above it!
“Who are you?” Gretlin asked, his voice hoarse with fear. Surely she can’t be human!
“My name is Nixa.” The woman’s voice was soft and beautiful.
But as she spoke, the bright morning sky changed to a threatening purple. Clouds swallowed up the sun. The purple faded to black.
“What’s happening?” Gretlin gasped.
The air vibrated with a sound like thunder. As the farmer stared in horror, the woman began to change. Her arms split and became a mass of thrashing tentacles. Her two eyes divided into a cluster of bulging, glistening spheres. Her scarlet robes dissolved and her body sagged into a thousand wrinkles. Green slime seeped out and dripped onto the ground. Gretlin choked on the foul stench that flooded around him.
“My name is Nixa,” the monster repeated. Her voice still sounded like a beautiful chime of bells, but it stabbed Gretlin’s ears like a knife. He clapped his hands to his ears and felt blood spurting between his fingers.
Farmer Gretlin screamed as a mass of tentacles reached out toward him.
CHAPTER ONE
A FATHER RETURNS
“ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE! ONE HUNDRED and fifty-two!” Captain Harkman’s voice echoed across the training courtyard.
Tom groaned as he pumped his arms in yet another push-up. He thought he was going to die of boredom, if he didn’t first melt into a puddle under the hot sun of Avantia.
He remembered how he had returned from Gorgonia a few weeks before, fresh from the Quest where he had defeated the evil wizard Malvel for the third time.
“Avantia owes you a great debt,” the king had said. “Tom, you may choose any position you like in my court. Ask, and it’s yours.”
“Thank you, sire,” Tom had replied. “I’d like to be a soldier in your army.”
He’d thought that would be fun, and a great way to go on helping Avantia. But I was wrong, he sighed to himself. What was the point of doing push-ups all day long when he had powers that the cadet officer, Captain Harkman, had never dreamed of?
I made a mistake, Tom muttered to himself as his arms pumped up and down. I wish there was something else I could do. Maybe another Quest …
He snatched a glance across the courtyard to where his friend Elenna was teaching archery to the youngest cadets. He watched her positioning one boy’s fingers on the bowstring, and saw his face break into a delighted grin as his arrow thumped home.
Tom heard heavy footsteps. Captain Harkman’s feet halted beside him; he was tapping his whip against his polished riding boots.
“Slacking again?” Captain Harkman snarled. He crouched down beside Tom, so that Tom could see his red, sweating face and gingery hair. “You’re just like your father. He was a slacker, too.”
Fury flooded through Tom. He gritted his teeth together with the effort of controlling his temper.
“Taladon trained here once, when he was a young man,” the captain went on, straightening up. “I was glad to see him go. He was lazy, and arrogant, too. He was —”
Tom heard the sound of an arrow whizzing through the air. It just missed Captain Harkman’s head as he ducked and rolled away.
“Who fired that?” he yelled, bouncing to his feet again.
Elenna ran over, bow in hand, and halted in front of the captain. “Sorry,” she said. “It was one of my cadets. He hasn’t quite gotten the hang of archery yet.”
/> Tom hid a smile. He knew perfectly well that Elenna had fired the arrow herself. Just because they weren’t on a Beast Quest didn’t mean that he and Elenna wouldn’t watch each other’s backs anymore.
A voice called out from the palace gardens. “He has returned! Taladon the Swift has returned!”
Tom froze. Taladon? My father?
Breathlessly, he scrambled to his feet and pounded toward the archway that separated the training courtyard from the gardens, weaving his way around his fellow cadets.
“Hey! You there! Come back!”
Tom ignored Captain Harkman’s shouts. He didn’t care how the captain would punish him, if only he could see his father.
He heard light footsteps racing behind him. He knew who that would be — Elenna.
Bursting through the archway, Tom saw one of the king’s messengers dashing across the gardens. “He’s here!” he yelled. “Taladon has returned!”
Tom took the steps up to the main palace door three at a time. The guards by the open doors waved him through and he ran down the long corridor that led toward King Hugo’s throne room.
My father left when I was a baby, he thought. Am I really going to see him now?
Dashing around a corner, Tom came to a halt. The throne room doors were open and a man was stepping through them. The sun slanting through a nearby window outlined his broad shoulders and long, black cloak. He strode forward confidently, his head held high.
“Father!” Tom sprang toward him, but the man didn’t seem to have heard. He walked on without looking back, and the guards pulled the throne room doors closed behind him.
“Father?” Tom repeated to himself, standing alone in the corridor.
CHAPTER TWO
MAN OR GHOST?
“WAS THAT TALADON?” ELENNA PANTED AS she caught up with Tom outside the throne room.
“I … I’m not sure.” Tom’s heart was thumping hard at the glimpse of the tall man.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Elenna said, nodding at the closed doors of the throne room.
The guards pushed the doors open again and Tom hurried forward with Elenna at his side.
Inside, King Hugo sat on his throne with his court magician, Wizard Aduro, standing beside him. But they didn’t look as happy as Tom had expected. The good wizard’s face was pale, and King Hugo’s eyes were wide with shock; his hands gripped the arms of his throne so hard that his knuckles were white. The king’s courtiers stood around, whispering uneasily.
Sudden fear seized Tom. He stumbled to a halt. The knight he had seen in the corridor was kneeling in front of King Hugo. “Father?” Tom asked.
The knight rose to his feet and turned. He was a tall man with a thatch of hair, a curling brown beard, and deep-set brown eyes. He wore a travel-stained tunic and leggings, covered by a dusty black cloak.
“I can see he’s your father,” Elenna whispered. “He looks just like an older version of you.”
The knight looked at Tom and held his gaze; Tom could not look away. He waited for the flood of emotions, but … nothing happened. Shouldn’t I be glad to see my father? he thought. Somehow this wasn’t how he had imagined their first meeting.
The knight smiled. “My son,” he said. His voice sounded rusty, as if he hadn’t used it in a long time.
Elenna nudged Tom. “Go on!”
Dazed, Tom stumbled forward to give his father a hug. But when he tried to wrap his arms around Taladon, they passed right through, as if his father was no more solid than a wisp of cloud.
A gasp came from the king’s courtiers and Tom heard Elenna stifle a cry. Wizard Aduro whispered something to King Hugo, and the king waved a hand at his followers. “Leave us,” he ordered. “Everyone except Aduro, Tom, and Elenna.”
As the courtiers and the guards filed out, glancing nervously at Tom and his father, Tom stepped back. Icy shivers were running through his body. Taladon was looking down at him, his eyes filled with love and sadness.
“What’s happened?” Tom gasped. “Are you a ghost? Are you dead?”
Aduro crossed the throne room to shut the doors behind the last of the courtiers. Returning to the king’s side, he stopped beside Taladon. He raised one hand; a glittering mist flowed from his fingers and wrapped Taladon in its silver coils. Then it returned to Wizard Aduro and vanished.
Aduro bent his head as if he was listening. “Taladon lives,” he said at last, “but he is stranded between the real world and the spirit world. Taladon, has this anything to do with the Ghost Beasts?”
Taladon nodded.
“Ghost Beasts?” Tom felt more confused than ever. “What are they? I’ve never heard of them.”
“Sit down, Tom.” Taladon pointed to a footstool at the bottom of the steps leading to the throne. “Aduro and I will tell you everything.”
Tom went to the footstool and sat down. Elenna fetched a second stool and sat down next to him. Tom was glad that she was there.
Wizard Aduro swept his wand through the air. White fire flared out of it and formed a glowing circle in the middle of the throne room.
“Keep your eyes on that,” Aduro instructed Tom and Elenna, “and you will see what has happened to Taladon.”
“And the Ghost Beasts?” Elenna asked. “I thought we destroyed all the Beasts in Gorgonia.”
“Malvel’s most deadly Beasts have yet to be revealed to you. They don’t live in Gorgonia,” Wizard Aduro told her solemnly. “They are here, in the darkest corners of Avantia.”
“Here!?” Tom exclaimed, his stomach churning.
King Hugo nodded, his eyes troubled. “I had hoped that they would never rise to trouble Avantia again,” he murmured. “That’s why we never told you about them, Tom.”
“The Beasts live in the Forbidden Land,” Aduro went on.
Tom and Elenna exchanged a startled glance.
“What’s the Forbidden Land?” Elenna asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Few of the people of Avantia know of it,” Aduro told her. “A wall surrounds it to keep them out. It is dangerous to set foot there.”
“Because of the Ghost Beasts?” Tom said.
“Yes,” the wizard told him. “They thrive on its shadows and gloom. No normal man can touch them, but they can cause the worst destruction you can imagine. They have no body to risk losing. So they can take risks that even a normal Beast would think twice about.” His voice grew harder and his eyes flashed. “Tom, I hope you can be brave. These are the most dangerous Beasts yet!”
CHAPTER THREE
NEW QUEST
TOM FELT A SPARK OF EXCITEMENT. WAS THIS the beginning of a new Quest?
Taladon stretched out a hand toward the magical screen. The silver fire died, and Tom saw a picture of a rocky hillside. An armored knight was there, his sword in his hand. Tom recognized the golden armor that belonged to the Master of the Beasts.
The knight raised his sword high above his head, ready to bring it down on a beautiful golden-haired woman dressed in scarlet robes.
“Is that you?” Tom asked his father, growing confused. “Fighting someone who isn’t even armed?”
“Watch,” Taladon said.
The knight brought his sword whistling down, but it passed right through the woman’s body, just as Tom’s arms had passed through Taladon. At the same moment the woman began to change. Her arms sprouted tentacles, and her beautiful face became hideously wrinkled, with a cluster of staring eyes.
Elenna drew in her breath sharply. “Is that a Ghost Beast?”
Taladon nodded. “That is Nixa the Death Bringer. She is a deadly Beast who can take the shape of anything she wants. But her voice is always beautiful.”
Tom shuddered. Somehow the idea of a beautiful voice made Nixa seem more evil than ever.
On the screen Taladon and the woman battled each other, the monster’s tentacles wrapped around the armored body of the knight.
“Was it Nixa who trapped you between the worlds?” Tom asked.
Taladon shook his head. “Aduro armed me with the precious Amulet of Avantia,” he replied.
“What’s that?” Elenna’s voice was filled with curiosity.
“It’s a disk of blue and silver carved with powerful symbols,” Aduro answered, stroking his beard. “I made it to protect the Master of the Beasts against the ghosts.”
“And it served me well, until …” Taladon stretched out his arm and the picture of the battling knight and the monster faded. The magical screen darkened, as if it were filled with a swirling black cloud. Then the cloud cleared, and a familiar figure began to take shape. Tom recognized the black robes, the cruel features shadowed by a black hood, and the sunken eyes glittering with evil. A mocking laugh echoed through the darkness.
“Malvel!” Tom exclaimed, jumping to his feet as anger swelled inside him. “It was Malvel who stranded you between the worlds!”
“It was.” Taladon’s eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a hard line; Tom could tell that his father shared his anger. “I battled five of the six Ghost Beasts: Nixa the Death Bringer, Equinus the Spirit Horse, Rashouk the Cave Troll, Luna the Moon Wolf, and Blaze the Ice Dragon.”
“What about the sixth?” Elenna asked. There was awe in her voice as she heard the names of the fearsome Beasts Taladon had conquered.
“The sixth was Stealth the Ghost Panther.” Taladon paced across the throne room, turned sharply, and pointed once more at the magical screen.
Tom sat down again to watch. The image of Malvel faded, to be replaced by a rocky hillside. On the topmost pinnacle a panther with three tails was perched. Its body was long and sleek. Its eyes were green like jade. As Tom stared in fascinated horror, the Ghost Beast leaped into the air, its muscular body blotting out the sun. It looked fiercer than any Beast Tom had ever faced.
“You fought him?” Tom breathed out, his gaze returning to his father. Taladon must be the bravest man in the world!