TOM SET OFF AT A RUN, SPEEDING ALONG THE path that wound down the side of the volcano. I don’t need the golden leg armor anymore, he thought. Running downhill, I can go as fast as I dare!

Storm cantered ahead, his hooves throwing up spurts of black volcanic dust, while Elenna and Silver raced alongside each other, hard on Tom’s heels. Tom loved the feeling of the wind as it whipped his hair back from his face. This would be fun, he said to himself, if we weren’t on such a serious Quest.

Tom slowed his pace to a jog as they reached the foot of the volcano and headed through the woods. Now he took the lead, weaving his way through the trees toward the tunnels.

At last Tom and his friends halted, panting, by the mouth of the biggest tunnel. Inside, Tom could see a passageway leading into blackness.

“It’s dark,” Tom began. “How are we going to —”

He was interrupted by a shout coming from the direction of the village. “Greetings!”

Tom turned to see a group of villagers hurrying toward them. In the lead was Raymond, who had helped guide his people to safety when the volcano was about to erupt. Just behind him was the young boy, Owen, and his mother, Nesta. Owen was still fair-haired and skinny, but much taller than when Tom and Elenna saw him last.

“It’s Tom and Elenna!” Raymond exclaimed, throwing his arms around Tom. “What are you doing in these parts?”

“I hope there’s no more trouble with Epos,” Nesta said as she embraced Elenna.

“No, Epos protects the kingdom now,” Tom replied quietly, remembering how the magnificent flame bird had helped him and Elenna in their Quest against Blaze the Ice Dragon. He clapped Owen on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you again!”

But even as he spoke, Tom thought that the villagers didn’t seem quite as friendly as he remembered them. He had felt a shiver pass through his body as Raymond hugged him. Somehow Owen’s mischievous face seemed to have turned cold, and there was a dark glint in Nesta’s eyes as she released Elenna. Her sleeves were rolled up, as if she had been working in the kitchen, and there was a long red scratch down one of her arms.

Nesta laughed as she spotted Tom looking at the scratch. “That’s nothing!” she assured him, hurriedly rolling her sleeves down. “I got it picking gooseberries. Those thorns!”

“You’re welcome to stay with us,” Raymond invited them. “We’ll never forget what you did for Stonewin.”

“Thank you, but we can’t stay,” Tom replied. He didn’t want to share all the details of their Quest, in case word of the Ghost Beasts sent the villagers into a panic. “We have to get back to the city as quickly as we can, so we thought we would go through the tunnels.”

“Do you have any candles we could use?” Elenna asked.

“We can do better than that,” Raymond told her. “If you come back to the village with us, we’ll give you some lamps.”

Tom and Elenna exchanged a glance.

“Time’s slipping away,” Tom muttered into his friend’s ear. “We ought to set out as soon as we can.”

“We don’t seem to have much of a choice,” Elenna replied. She pointed to where Owen and the other village children were already clustered around Silver, patting him and running their hands through his thick fur, while one of the adult villagers had taken Storm by the bridle and was leading him away. “Besides, if we don’t go to the village, we’ll have to make torches somehow.”

Tom nodded. “And that might take longer than fetching the lamps.” He turned to Raymond. “Thanks. We’ll come with you, but only to pick up the lamps. It’s already late afternoon, and we really need to be on our way.”

“Of course!” Raymond smiled as he glanced around at the other villagers. “We’ll do everything we can to help.”

Another shiver passed through Tom as he saw the jubilant looks some of the villagers were sharing. Could they be that happy we’re coming to visit?

Raymond led the way along a path that wound through the woods and joined the main street of the village. At the far end was a sturdy hut built of logs. Through the window, Tom could see shelves full of supplies. There were boxes of candles and a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

Raymond flung open the door. “Go in,” he said, gesturing to Tom and Elenna. “Take whatever you want.”

Tom stepped inside the store, followed by Elenna. He still felt uneasy. He wanted to find what they needed and get out of the village as quickly as they could.

He took several boxes of candles from one of the shelves, shoving the candles into his pockets, while Elenna lifted two of the lamps down from their hooks and carefully filled them with oil from an earthenware jar.

“That should be enough —” Tom began, breaking off at a sharp bang behind him. When he spun around, he saw that the door had slammed shut.

Tom’s uneasiness flared into alarm. He ran across to the door and tugged on the handle. But the door wouldn’t move.

“It’s locked!” Tom exclaimed.