"You must track down a new Beast, ... Its name is Skor. ... Beware ... I give you a final warning: danger will come from both earth and air. Remember, earth and air..."
- Aduro on the subject of Skor
Skor the Winged Stallion is one of the Evil Beasts of Gorgonia. Based on the Pegasus of Greek myth, Skor is an enormous stallion with feathered glossy wings sprouting out of his back that enable him to fly, making the Winged Stallion a formidable enemy both in ground and aerial combat. Each of the Beasts' legs end with golden hooves, one of which is embedded the Green Jewel, a token and one of the six jewels of Gorgonia with magical healing properties. The Beast is equipped with fearsome yellow teeth that drool with acidic saliva. His eyes can emit flaming sparks on demand, which can start fires. The book describes the Beast as being coal-black in colour with a purple underside on his wings tipped with gold and a white mane. However on the front cover of the book, the beast is brown with a slightly green mane. The Beast has incredibly tough skin that cannot be penetrated by a sword. This may be due to the Green Jewel offering protection and healing. Despite this, his head does not share the immunity of the rest of his body and is extremely vulnerable to attack. While a powerful Beast, Skor shares some weaknesses with the common horse, such as a vulnerability to techniques used by horse whisperers to calm and subdue wild horses. In some illustrations, Skor is given a pair of horns jutting from above his eyes. The first noted example of this was in the 2011 Beast Quest annual, and appeared within official artwork. These horns are absent in any of Skor's canon appearances and why the alteration was made is unknown. Skor and Quarg are the only Beasts to have their official artwork modified in later appearances. Skor also made a minor appearance in The Dagger of Doom, where he acted both as a steed to Malvel and as a guard of the Western City.
Independence and joining Malvel[]
As with the other Beasts of Gorgonia, Skor was a wild unaligned Evil Beast for centuries, tormenting the people of the kingdom in pursuit of fear and amusement. Following Malvel usurping the throne of Gorgonia, the new tyrant king chose to attempt to unite the Beasts of the kingdom under his control, seeing them as extremely useful potential minions to secure his rule and quash the growing rebel organisation dedicated to removing him from power alongside any rebel sympathy or organised opposition. Skor accepted and swore loyalty to the dark wizard, likely because allying himself with the king of Gorgonia and the other Evil Beasts under him would offer far increased power. Skor fulfilled his role for decades, acting as both a hunter of rebels and transport for Malvel and his various minions.
The Dark Realm[]
Skor attacking Hallam.
Skor was tracking a rebel in the Gorgonian rainforest, placed with overseeing the area as it seemed to be the Beast's home. The rebel Hallam pulled himself from a pit of vipers placed in the rainforest by Malvel to assist Skor and in order to escape, eyed the pit as he left, his back striking a tree as he wasn't watching. He clung to the bark as he calmed himself, but in his groping, found Skor's wing, who had found his target. The rebel turned after feeling Skor's breath around his head. As Hallam fell to his knees in terror, Skor drew back his lips, opened his wings, and took to the air. The Winged Stallion pulled back his head and screeched before descending on his victim. It can be safely assumed Hallam died in the attack.
Skor and Seth landing to fight.
Shortly after, Malvel placed Skor under the command of his servant Seth, expecting the two would end up fighting the Avantians. The captured Good Beast of Avantia Epos was also transported to the rainforest with Seth, who Skor was tasked with guarding and killing. Malvel then manipulated the map he had given the Avantians to show Skor's location, drawing the two sides together in an attempt to destroy the Avantians. They managed to reach the rainforest and as they entered, saw the hoofprints of the Beast in the dirt. While questioning what type of horse could create such large tracks, Skor and Seth located the two and appeared behind them, with Elenna being the first to see them and point them out to Tom. The Evil Beast rose on to his hind legs and launched himself into the air, soaring over the group in a show of intimidation before landing hard in front of them, the tremors causing Tom to fall to his knees. Seth had the stallion refrain from attacking and after taunting Tom and readying for a duel, ordered him to return to oversee Epos. The Winged Stallion did so, returning to the nest to secure Epos, who put up no resistance due to the pain of a completely broken wing.
Skor being kept at bay by Elenna's arrows.
Skor being soothed by Tom blowing through a reed.
The tracks Skor left behind were used to locate the nest after Seth retreated. When Tom and Elenna found the nest, Skor and Seth emerged from the foliage. Seth was quickly knocked out by a tree branch to the temple and tied up with vines, leaving Skor to fight alone. The Beast rose up and swooped at Tom, missing as his foe ducked. Seth awoke and demanded the Beast help him, with Skor turning to attack Elenna to free his charge, but was struck in the side of the head by a rock thrown by Tom, sending him crashing to the ground. Skor then charged again, but Tom rolled away, hiding behind a tree. The Winged Stallion went to investigate, not initially spotting Tom climbing the tree, having decided to target Skor's head due to the success of the stone. By the time the Evil Beast located him, he was already at the top of the tree. He emitted sparks (causing a minor fire) and tried to grab Tom's leg with his teeth, failing and being struck on the head with Tom's sword, which did nothing. He withdrew to the bottom of the tree, unable to fly as the trees were too thick to unfurl his wings, and began to attack it, hoping to bring the tree down and Tom with it. Tom leapt off the tree as it fell, instantly being charged by Skor, but Tom charged at the Beast himself, sheltering from the hooves with his shield, and striking with his sword, inflicting a major wound which immediately healed. Tom grabbed a hind leg to try and climb to his foe's head, but was thrown across the clearing by a bucking of the Beast's back legs. The Winged Stallion once more charged the stunned and bleeding warrior, the attack repulsed by the Avantian's shield. Elenna, seeing Tom's plight, let go of the constricted Seth and began to fire on Skor, distracting him but running out of arrows as she did so. While the Beast was focused on the archer, Tom saw a reed-filled marsh at the edge of the clearing and remembering Henry telling him of stampedes being stopped by animal tamers blowing through pampas grasses, chose to see if such a trick would work with Skor. He waded in, grabbed a reed and blew. While the others were forced to cover their ears from the shrill note, Skor was soothed by it and fell asleep. Seth cried out to his ally to awake, which was successful, but Tom was able to lob his sword at the Beast's head, striking it. Skor reared in agony at the attack, froze partway through the motion, and was encased in green crystal, defeated.
The Dagger of Doom[]
Note this section focuses on appearances from the Master Your Destiny trilogy, which is non-canon. As such the contents of the section does not affect the main timeline of the series.
Skor swooping down to Kaloom.
In the events where Malvel enchants the rebels of Kaloom, he summons Skor to him to return to the Western City if the reader does not falsely pledge loyalty to Malvel. The Winged Stallion lands in the settlement, scaring many of the rebels, who cower away from the Beast. Malvel mounts the Beast and orders him to take him back to the Western City, which the loyal Winged Stallion complied with and flew back to the capital. If the reader freed the rebels from Malvel's enchantment to reach this point, Skor attacks an older rebel, but was fought off by Tom and the reader, parrying his hooves with their swords before withdrawing to Malvel. Skor then takes up guard duty in the Western City.
Skor watching Tom and the reader climbing Malvel's tower.
If the reader and Tom enter the Western City by pounding down the gates with a battering ram, Skor swoops down from the clouds and attacks. He connects a hoof with one's head, creating a sickening crunch as the reader and Tom rush towards Malvel's tower. If the reader chooses to take the rebels with them into the tower, the Winged Stallion takes potshots through the narrow windows, reaching in with his snout and grabbing rebels through the window to pull them out. When he tried again, the reader grabs a torch and forces it into Skor's face, causing the Beast to rocket upwards to avoid the flame, smashing his head into the top of the tower, causing him to dissolve into ash. If the reader chooses not to bring the rebels, Skor hovers over Malvel at the top of the tower and when his master uses the Dagger of Doom to force his foes to the edge of the tower, he swoops down and grabs the reader's arm in his teeth and carries him out over the Western City, dropping him to his death. If the reader takes the bottle of dissolving liquid on their way up the tower, when Malvel realises he no longer has it, he orders Skor to attack, with the Winged Stallion swooping down to comply, but as he drew close, the reader threw some of the liquid over the Evil Beast, causing him to dissolve, screaming in agony as he perished.
Powers, Abilities and Weaknesses[]
Powers and Abilities[]
- Flight: Skor has wings which allow him to fly.
- Enhanced Strength: Skor has enhanced strength, being able to knock down a tree and break Epos' bones.
- Regeneration: Skor's skin can regenerate from a sword cut and an arrow wound in mere seconds, however this doesn't extend to his head.
- Fire Vision: Skor can shoot fiery sparks from his eyes that can start fires.
- Acidic Saliva: Skor is stated to have acidic saliva.
Weaknesses[]
- Weak Head: Skor can be defeated if struck in the head hard enough, being trapped in a crystal prison.
- Sedation: Skor is susceptible to being placed in a sedated state by blowing through grass.
A - Z of Beasts[]
"Fear this creature! His long, yellowish teeth can tear chunks of human flesh, because they drip with acidic saliva. Silver sparks flash from his eyes and his wingtips scatter golden light. Don't be distracted by the shimmering colours, however - this Beast does not bleed, so he is unstoppable in battle. Even the deadliest blow will not wound Skor!"
Compass text[]
"Skor is a fearsome enemy both on land and in the air."