Tagus the Night Horse (5 page)

Elenna sat up, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

“What’s the matter?”

“Tagus is coming,” Tom said. “This is it. We’re going to face him,
now
.”

“W
E HAVE TO HEAD TAGUS OFF,” TOM WENT
on. “We can’t risk him getting near the herd.”

Elenna sprang to her feet and followed Tom as he skirted the edge of the camp. Silver padded at their heels. They quietly passed Samuel’s campfire. The cattleman was wrapped up in a thick blanket. Elenna stooped to pick up a coil of rope from near the fire and slung it over her shoulder. “Which way?” she asked Tom.

Tom gazed out across the plain. Tagus had disappeared from view, but Tom knew he must be near. He strained to pick up the sound of
hoofbeats, but all he could hear were the soft sounds of drowsy cattle.

Then the mist parted and Tagus appeared. The Beast was on the other side of the river, hooves pawing the ground in a fury. His muscles rippled beneath the shiny black coat of his horse’s body. He flicked his tail in agitation. His face was handsome, and he had curly black hair and a beard. Tom could see that Tagus was ready to attack and was only waiting for the right moment. There was no time to waste.

Tom gripped his sword and stepped toward the river’s edge. His stomach churned in fear at the thought of those pounding hooves.

“No!” Elenna clutched at his arm and dragged him into the shelter of a jutting rock. “Maybe we should wait for him to come to us.”

“We can’t,” Tom said. “If we let him cross the river, he’ll be close enough to attack. We need to stop him from crossing.”

“But how?” Elenna asked, a worried look on her face.

“I’ve got an idea,” Tom said bravely. “Give me the rope. I’ll ride out with Storm.”

Tom grabbed Storm’s reins and hoisted himself onto the saddle, leaving Elenna and Silver to keep watch. He hated to bring his horse into battle, but it was necessary. It was the only way he could cross the river quickly enough. Storm gave a nervous whinny and Tom patted his mane.

“I know, boy, I’m scared, too,” Tom said, reassuring his horse. “But I know you can do it. You outran Ferno the Fire Dragon, and now I need you to outrun Tagus.”

Storm reared up and charged toward the river. As he plunged into the water, Tom gasped. The water was ice-cold and moving fast. Storm fought his way across, but the current was strong and pulled them downriver. Tom watched Tagus on the other side. The Beast was pacing back and
forth, like a lion waiting for its prey. Tom felt fear wash over him.

As Storm neared the river’s bank, Tom tied a quick slipknot on one end of his rope. Tom focused on Tagus’s collar. It gave off a soft glow, and was secured with a lock, just like the others had been. With any luck, he could lasso the Beast and subdue him long enough to break Malvel’s enchantment.

Storm panted heavily as they reached firm ground. Crossing the river had taken a lot out of him. Seeing that his companions had made it safely, Silver let out a fur-bristling howl from the other side of the river.

Tom looked toward the Beast, preparing himself for battle. Tagus was cantering toward them. The ground shook with every step.

Tom lowered his arm and swung the rope around in a tight circle. As Tagus approached, Tom steadied himself in Storm’s saddle. When the Beast was twenty paces away, he stopped suddenly.

Tom looked at Tagus. He had seen a lot of terrifying things during the Beast Quest, but he had never seen such rage in a creature’s eyes. Tom felt himself choke with fear.

Tagus charged. His muscular body surged toward Tom and Storm. His eyes narrowed in rage, Tagus kicked with his powerful front legs as he drew within striking distance.

Steeling himself, Tom flung the lasso at the charging Beast. It landed evenly around his neck, just above Malvel’s enchanted collar. Now, Tom needed Storm’s help to tighten the lasso around the Beast’s neck, so it would hold fast. Tom didn’t even need to flick the reins. Storm knew what to do, and bolted in the other direction, tugging the lasso securely into place.

Tagus let out a bellow of rage. His horse-body reared as the rope pulled tightly around his neck.

S
TORM CHARGED ACROSS THE PRAIRIE. BUT
the rope wasn’t very long — they couldn’t keep running.

“Stop, Storm!” Tom yelled, holding tightly on to the lasso with one hand while tugging on his horse’s reins with the other. “Halt —”

But before his faithful horse could skid to a stop, the rope was stretched taut and Tom was ripped from Storm’s back. Tom landed on the ground with a sickening thud.

Before he even had a chance to think, the rope in his hand jerked tight and Tom was being dragged across the prairie. The ground tore at his skin and
clothes as he bounced roughly along the plain. Tagus was dragging him, but
where
?

Tom tried to hold on to the rope, but it was too difficult. With a powerful jerk, it was pulled from his hands. The sky was beginning to lighten, and the sounds of waking cattle could be heard across the plain.

Sitting up, Tom looked back toward the camp. The dark shape of the Beast loomed up again out of the mist. He paused for a moment, one foreleg impatiently beating the ground. Tagus reared, thrashing from side to side as he tried to free himself from the rope. His bellows of rage echoed over the plain. Tom could hear the cattle stirring. The noise must be frightening them.

Tom stood firmly, gripping his sword and matching the fierce gaze of Tagus. It was just him and the Beast on the wide-open prairie. Tom raised his sword and charged. Tagus did the same.

In the early morning light of the still prairie, Tom and the Beast ran at full speed toward each other. There was no way Tom could survive this. Tagus was five times his size and had ten times his strength. With just one swipe of the Beast’s powerful arm, Tom would be knocked out cold.

But Tom had another plan. Just before the two met in a bloody collision, Tom slid to the ground. He went right under Tagus’s thrashing hooves, grabbing the rope that trailed along on the ground.

Standing up, Tom now held the rope in his hand. Tagus pawed at the ground furiously. His eyes glared red with pure hate. Rearing up, the Beast charged again, this time with even more speed and anger.

Where was Storm
? Tom wondered. It wasn’t like his horse to abandon him. Without Storm’s incredible speed, it would be much more difficult to defeat Tagus. What could he do?

Tom held his ground, staring Tagus down as he closed in. Just as the half man–half beast swung a deadly blow, Tom ducked.

This time, Tagus stopped in his tracks. Tom was now under the Beast’s massive body. Holding tightly to the rope, Tom rolled himself out from under Tagus. The Beast reared again. Tom ran around the creature as quickly as he could. Tagus thrashed, but Tom was too quick. Before the Beast had a chance to recognize what was happening, Tom had wound the rope around his legs. Tagus wouldn’t be able to take a step without falling.

Realizing this, the Beast stood still, but continued to bellow with rage.

This was his chance. Tom launched himself at Tagus. As he flew through the air, he let out a whoop of exhilaration. His heart thudded with a mixture of fear and excitement as he landed on the Beast’s back. Tagus’s strong muscles rippled beneath him.

But all Tom’s strength wasn’t enough to rein in the wild Beast. Another howl of fury escaped Tagus. His horse’s body twisted and thrashed as he tried to escape the rope and throw Tom off. It was all Tom could do to stay on his back. The Beast swung his arms wildly. Tom ducked and slipped sideways; only his desperate grip on the rope stopped him from falling.

At last, with a fierce snort, Tagus braced himself and grabbed at the lasso around his neck. He tore at the rope, flexing his powerful arms. Tom’s hands jerked backward as the tension in the rope gave way — it had snapped. Suddenly he had nothing to hold on to but the enchanted collar.

Tagus’s human half twisted until he could look back at Tom. Tom caught a glimpse of his dark eyes blazing in the tangle of his hair. Then the Beast raised one arm and struck Tom a crushing blow on the side of the head.

T
OM STRUGGLED TO KEEP HIS GRIP ON THE
collar. He blinked and shook his head, trying to drive away the dizzy feeling.

Tagus was stamping on the ground in a rage. Tom spotted something on the horizon. It was Storm! Elenna was riding him, and Silver ran alongside. They were coming to help.

As they approached, Tagus became even more agitated.

Tom called out to Elenna, “Spread out. We need to confuse him until I can get the collar off!”

They split up. Elenna rode Storm in front of the Beast, while Silver darted off to the side.

It was working! Tagus was confused. He paced from side to side, snorting and heaving. He didn’t know who to go after first. This bought Tom enough time to pull out the key the good wizard, Aduro, had given him.

With one hand gripping the collar and one hand firmly holding the key, Tom grappled with the collar. But before Tom could get the key in the lock, Tagus gave one last stamp on the ground and stormed off, charging toward the hills. The threat of three foes had been enough to send him retreating.

With all his strength, Tom gripped the enchanted collar. He had to free Tagus!

Tom looked over his shoulder to see Elenna chasing after him on Storm. The Beast was moving too quickly for Tom to unlock the collar. It took all his strength just to hold on during the bumpy ride. He had to get Tagus to slow down. But how?

Tom looked toward his friend. Elenna gave him

a supportive nod and urged Storm into a gallop. Wind whipped through her hair as she raced after the Beast.

“Go, Storm!” Elenna yelled. The black horse caught up with Tagus, pounding alongside him before he reached the slope that led to the plain where the herd was camped.