Vipero the Snake Man (5 page)

J
UST THEN, A HARSH SQUAWK SOUNDED ACROSS
the valley. He rolled over and looked up.

It was Epos!

The magnificent phoenix blazed across the sky. Her red-gold wings shone brighter than the sun. Fire streamed from her tail and golden light flashed from her claws. She swooped down, her talons stretched out toward Vipero’s two snake heads, which flinched away from the shining claws.

Epos soared upward again, but as Vipero’s heads slithered back toward Tom, the Winged Flame swooped down, forcing them away. The heads
darted back and forth with a menacing hiss, but at every turn the noble Beast barred their way.

Tom sprang to his feet. Looking around, he spotted his sword lying at the foot of a rock. He grabbed it and turned to face Vipero.

But he quickly realized that the heads couldn’t be killed by the sword. If he slashed them in two, the remaining part would still attack. What could he do? Exhausted by the heat, he had to force himself to think of a plan.

Then he noticed one of the huge cacti nearby, its lethal spines poking out. That was it! If Tom could pin Vipero’s heads to the cactus, he could destroy them.

Tom backed toward the plant, waving his sword at the two heads. “Come on!” he yelled.

Epos beat her flaming wings and hovered just above Tom. The two snake heads slithered rapidly across the sand and reared up, ready to attack.

Tom gazed up into the two sets of gaping jaws. The flesh of their throats was black, and their fangs were a rancid yellow, dripping poison that hissed on the sand. Tom choked as its acrid scent wafted over him once again.

One of the heads lunged forward with a furious hiss. Tom swiveled out of the way just in time. Moving too quickly to change direction, the head sank its fangs right into the cactus. It tugged back, but, trapped by the spines, it couldn’t move.

“Stuck!” Tom yelled in triumph.

He plunged his sword into the thick flesh of the Beast, pinning it to the cactus. Silver blood, like a river of mercury, poured from the wound.

Meanwhile, Epos had swooped down on the second head and slammed it against the cactus with her talons. Pulling away, she left one golden talon in place, pinning the head beside its companion.

Epos soared into the air again. Beating her wings together, she gathered a ball of fire and launched it toward the cactus. When she had been cursed by Malvel’s evil spell, Tom had been her target. Now she was creating her fearsome fireballs to help him.

Vipero’s two heads writhed, trying to free themselves. Tom pulled out his sword and stepped back to avoid the fireball. But as the blazing sphere hurtled through the air, trailing flame behind it, he saw that it was going to miss Vipero. Raising his shield, he batted the fireball so that it landed on target. The fireball exploded on impact, engulfing the Beast.

The outlines of the snake heads began to shimmer in the heat. An eerie shriek rose up to the sky, then stopped abruptly. The two snake heads disappeared. In their place, hundreds of tiny bright green snakes erupted from the fire and slithered away into the
desert. They headed for gaps among the rocks or burrowed down into the sand. Within moments, they were gone.

Tom let out a long sigh of relief. Vipero was defeated. “Thank you, Epos!” he called.

But there was no time to celebrate his victory. He had to think of Elenna. Tom ran across the sand to his friend and flung himself down beside her. Silver was standing over her, whining anxiously.

Elenna was still unconscious, but her chest was rising and falling as she breathed. Her arm was red and swollen where Vipero had pierced it with his fangs.

As quickly as he could, Tom pulled the remains of Aunt Maria’s herbs out of his pocket. He held Elenna’s head in his lap and rubbed leaves into the snakebite. Elenna still didn’t move.

Tom tore up a leaf and dropped the pieces into
his friend’s mouth. “Elenna, you’ve got to swallow them!” he begged her.

Epos hovered above. A single crystal tear fell from her eye and dropped into Elenna’s mouth. Elenna stirred, licked her lips, and swallowed the herbs.

Silver lowered his head and nudged Elenna’s shoulder gently. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked at Tom, and then at Epos. A smile spread over her face.

“Tom, you won!” she exclaimed.

Tom helped her to sit up, and Silver covered her face with licks. Elenna plunged her hands into the wolf’s thick fur and hugged him. Already Tom could see that the swelling on her arm was going down and the red streaks were fading.

Tom’s limbs were shaking with exhaustion. Just then he spotted the two pieces of golden leg armor glinting nearby. He pulled them on and, as he did
so, his exhaustion vanished and he felt as if he could run forever. He had won another new strength!

He gazed around at the sand dunes stretching into the distance on every side. Even if he could run forever, how were they all going to get out of here? The intense heat of the desert was fading now that the Beast was dead. But it was still too hot to travel easily, and the last of their water was gone.

Then Epos let out a squawk, and landed softly on the sand.

“I think she’s offering us a lift!” cried Tom.

Elenna scrambled up onto the flame bird’s back, and Silver leaped up after her. Tom even managed to lead Storm onto the back of the enormous bird.

When the friends were settled, Epos beat her wings and took to the air again. The sun was starting to set, covering the vivid blue sky with ribbons of scarlet. The dunes of the desert sped smoothly beneath them as they flew.

Then Tom spotted a small, dark cloud scudding toward them. As it drew closer he saw it take on the shape of Malvel. Wizard Aduro, still bound in the chair, was dangling lower than ever over the pit of boiling tar.

Anger surged through Tom; he gripped Epos’s neck feathers. “I kept my courage and I defeated Vipero!” he shouted.

Malvel’s deep-set eyes glittered menacingly. Tom could tell that he was furious to see Tom and Elenna emerging alive from the desert.

“You may have won this time,” he sneered, “but the next Beast will be the real test. I’d like to see you escape from that!” He let out a peal of cruel laughter. “You’ve never seen a spider like it!”

“I’ll fight any Beast you send against me!” Tom retorted.

“Why don’t you fight us yourself?” Elenna taunted the evil wizard. “Or are you too much of a coward?”

There was no reply. The vision of Malvel and Aduro faded as the dark cloud thinned and disappeared. Epos spiraled gently downward and landed on the edge of the desert, near the town.

Tom, Elenna, Silver, and Storm scrambled to the ground. At once the mighty bird took off again, her blazing wings carrying her high into the sky.

“Thanks!” Tom called out. “I hope we meet again!”

Elenna raised a hand to wave good-bye.

Epos circled once above their heads and flew away, growing smaller and smaller until she was a tiny, red-gold spark. Then she was lost to sight in the blaze of the setting sun.

The friends stood quietly for a moment.

Then Elenna smiled. “You look like a true knight now.”

Tom drew himself up. Wearing the golden helmet, chain mail, breastplate, and leg armor, he
was
beginning to feel like a knight.

But would that be enough? Tom knew there would be another test as he faced the next Beast. Would he be able to defeat it? And would his heart be strong enough to keep Wizard Aduro alive?

Taking a deep breath, he summoned all his courage. “Come on, Elenna,” he said. “We have a Beast to track down.”

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Text copyright © 2009 by Beast Quest Ltd.
Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Scholastic Inc.
Cover illustration © 2009 by David Wyatt
Designed by Tim Hall

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First printing, March 2009

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e-ISBN: 978-0-545-29279-5