"It gives you the gift of speed, ... But take care. Use your power only for good."
- Aduro on the subject of the Horseshoe Fragment
The Horseshoe Fragment is a shard of the cursed horseshoe used to enchant Tagus that becomes one of Tom's shield tokens. It originally offered enhanced speed to Tom, but due to an overlap with the Golden Leg Armour, it appears to have been altered to enhance mounted speed, such as when riding Storm or when sliding on the shield, and only on occasion fulfils its original purpose of offering additional speed. It is among the least used recurring tokens.
Nature of the Horseshoe Fragment[]
The Horseshoe Fragment allows Tom to run and jump with incredible speed (original power).
The Horseshoe Fragment is a section of the cursed horseshoe created by Malvel to enchant Tagus, which consists of the left branch from the heel and stops just short of the toe. The Horseshoe sits close to the centre of Tom's shield, and due to its connection with Tagus, allows Tom and the Beast to communicate. The Horseshoe Fragment originally gave Tom the ability to run far faster than the normal human, however the abilities of both it and the Golden Leg Armour have since been altered. The Golden Leg Armour originally granted Tom the ability to run marathon distances without tiring, however it was altered as early as Tom's quest into the Forbidden Land to allow the Avantian warrior to run at incredible speeds, overlapping with the Horseshoe Fragment. As such, the Horseshoe Fragment's ability was altered to allow the steed Tom was riding to run faster. While Taladon was using the Golden Armour, the Horseshoe Fragment occasionally regained its original use as Tom was unable to use the power of the Golden Armour.
History of the Horseshoe Fragment[]
The Horseshoe fragment coming free of Tagus, freeing him.
The Horseshoe Fragment was forged by Malvel as a way to control Tagus, possessing the wizard's dark magic. Malvel attacked the Beast and was able to attach the cursed horseshoe, bringing the Horse-Man under Malvel's control. Tom was able to remove the horseshoe from the Beast in battle, destroying its dark magic and rendering it entirely beneficial. Tom took a fragment of the horseshoe as his token, using it to enhance his speed. Due to speed not being needed in the early battles and the Golden Leg Armour soon offering a similar power, Tom got little use out of the token, mostly using it while travelling between areas. It was used to quickly cross the Rainbow Swamp to rescue Silver from Murk.
Jezrin sealing away the power of the Horseshoe Fragment and the other shield tokens.
Tom recovering the Horseshoe Fragment from Tauron's disintegrating body.
Like the other tokens, it was used against Tom, with Raksha stealing it to enchant the Good Beasts and live off of Tagus's power. Jezrin was able to lock away its power and all the shield tokens were later destroyed by Kapra, later being reforged by the Circle of Wizards. Kensa stole the token to create her Beasts, using it to birth Tauron. It was the last token recovered in Henkrall, being reclaimed as Tauron was defeated and turned to ash.