"The sun is low, the day is done. Come - be stone with me."
- Soltra
Soltra is an Evil Beast who serves Malvel in protecting a part of the Golden Armour. She is a humanoid Beast standing two heads taller than an average Avantian man. Her head is large and perfectly smooth, with a singular large eye set in its centre. While the cover shows the eye to be purple, the book describes it as a beautiful emerald green. From the head down, her body is a humanoid skeleton with thin bones. This body is covered by a purple cloak while her arms are muscular and covered in skin until exposed to sunlight. Her main weapon is her eye, which encases those who stare into it in stone. This ability extends to inanimate objects, which she can turn to stone at a glance. She is also armed with a whip to fight against those able to resist looking into her eye. She also has the ability to speak (being the first Beast in the series to do so and as Tom didn't have the Red Jewel at the time, the first Beast to communicate with Tom through recognisable language via the common tongue), possessing a voice of incredible beauty. Her voice has a hypnotic effect, luring victims towards her to be petrified by her eye, or into dangerous situations to be killed in other ways. She has a crippling weakness to sunlight, exploding violently when rays of sun meet her eye. Due to this weakness, she is only active when heavy mist descends upon her territory, preventing the sun from reaching her, although when this is the case, she is extremely active. When Malvel gave her the golden breastplate to defend, she donned it over her exposed ribcage, although whether she gained the benefits of it (enhanced strength) is unknown. Like the other Beasts of the second series, Malvel claimed to have created her, however this is unlikely due to her being said to be multiple hundred years old. It is more likely she made a pact with Malvel, with the heavy mist potentially being the wizard's way of expanding her hunting ground as far as Errinel. Soltra is based on a mix of the Siren (beautiful voice) and the Gorgon (petrification and weakness to reflection as Tom beats her by deflecting sunlight off his blade), both of which stem from Greek myth. It is possible that her name is derived from the word "sultry", meaning attractive, which her voice makes people think she is.
The Golden Armour[]
Soltra appearing before Gretlin.
Soltra followed closely behind the expanding mist towards the village of Errinel. She first came across Farmer Gretlin, who had ended his working day in the face of the abnormally heavy mist for the time of year. Soltra petrified the oxen drawing the farmer's plough without him noticing. Confused as to why his beasts of burden had stopped when they were normally eager to return to the stable, he unfastened the plough, noting how much colder it had become (it had turned to stone). Gretlin moved past his oxen to examine them, patting one of their necks as he did so and feeling the cold stone. Gretlin then found their eyes could still move and stared deeply into them, noticing an approaching figure reflected in their eyes. He turned to find Soltra approaching, meeting his gaze. Gretlin was able to mutter how beautiful the eye was before turning to stone. The Stone Charmer's handiwork was not as complete as normal, since a small crack existed on his chest, barely noticeable. A young boy watched the incident and the Evil Beast slinking back into the fog and ran to Errinel to warn the village of the approaching Beast, with some choosing to evacuate but others not taking the warning seriously. The crack was later used by Tom to break Gretlin out of the shell. Soltra arrived at Erinnel, petrifying various creatures on the way. Arriving at the village, she went on a spree of petrification, freezing at least three villagers in the main square, potentially more around the village.
Soltra fighting Tom after failing to lure him.
Soltra wrapping her whip around Tom's leg.
Tom directing sunlight into Soltra's eye.
Soltra being destroyed by the sunlight.
A day later, Tom, Elenna, Storm and Silver arrived in search of the golden breastplate. They freed Gretlin, were unable to free the frozen villagers, and reunited with the escaped villagers. After being gifted Taladon's compass and taunted by Malvel, who stated Soltra's name, Tom and Elenna went to the nearby swamps in search of the Stone Charmer. Soltra called out to her foe, welcoming him to her home. An offer to Tom to see her placed the warrior under the hypnotic sway of her voice, luring him into the deep mud by telling him to come forward. As he struggled to free himself, the Beast called out to him to stay with her, however he was able to get free by gripping an arrow fired by Elenna. Unwilling to endanger Elenna, but needing help against such a dangerous Evil Beast, Tom summoned Arcta, who quickly arrived and began swinging his arms to dispel the mist, revealing Soltra. She called out to Tom again, placing the Avantian back under her spell, which made him walk towards her and ignore Arcta's cry, telling him it was okay as he intended to meet Soltra's gaze. What little of Tom's mind that remained free mentally screamed at him to look at the compass, which when its needle swivelled to danger, snapped the warrior out of the trance. Soltra attempted to place Tom back under her power, but he advanced on her with lethal intent. Getting close, the feeling to look at the eye grew again, but the Beast drew her whip and struck first, meeting her foe's shield. She vanished into the fog, appearing behind Tom and striking him in the back, knocking him to the ground before disappearing again. The Beast attacked again, striking Tom's sword hand. Next she struck his knees, pulling him down. Angered by the Evil Beast's superiority in the fight, Arcta blew away more of the mist, revealing the shrouded sun above. Encouraged, Tom turned to his foe again, but accidentally locked eyes. Peace washed over him as Soltra told him the cold stone was of no danger. The return of the hypnotism made Arcta roar in fury and foolishly, Malvel filled his head in mocking laughter. Malvel's laughter snapped Tom out of the trance. The Mountain Giant blew more mist out of the way, however the sun was at Soltra's back, unable to strike her. The Beast mocked Tom for this, however a ray of light struck Tom's blade, rebounding into the Stone Charmer's eye, making her howl in agony and lunge at Tom. The quick motion parted her cloak, revealing her skeletal form. Distracted by the golden breastplate, Tom moved the sword, which shifted the light from Soltra's face, letting her move in and close a hand around her foe's neck, choking the young warrior. Arcta attacked the enemy cyclops, knocking her away and removing her grip on Tom, who thrust his blade skyward, catching the light, which reflected into Soltra's eye. The Stone Charmer screamed, her robe exploded, and the Beast crumbled to dust, leaving the golden breastplate free to take.
Powers, Abilities and Weaknesses[]
Powers and Abilities[]
- Petrifying Vision: Soltra can encase those who stare into her eye in stone. It also works on inanimate objects.
- Hypnotic Voice: Soltra can use her voice to hypnotise her victims, drawing them in.
- Enhanced Durability: Soltra has enhanced durability, as she can survive being smacked by Arcta.
- Weapon Mastery: Soltra is proficient with her barbed whip.
- Speech: Soltra is one of the few Beasts able to speak without the aid of the Red Jewel.
Equipment[]
- Barbed Whip: Soltra has a barbed whip which she can use if her victims resist looking into her eye.
Weaknesses[]
- Light Weakness: If exposed to sunlight, Soltra will explode, meaning she can only work during night or when there is heavy mist.
- Petrification Reversion: When defeated, all the victims Soltra petrified are reverted back to normal.
A - Z of Beasts[]
"Soltra stalks the misty marshes near Tom's village of Errinel. Her face glows milk-white like the full moon. Soltra appears beautiful and draws you nearer with her charms. But be careful! If you stare into her one eye for too long, your body will turn to stone..."