The Secret of Ashona (15 page)

But then another reality sank in. Who would donate their soul to the Furies? Who would give up their life, and let Tarvos turn them into a Golem? The more he thought about it, the more the idea seemed hopeless. Anyone giving up their soul would be sacrificing themselves just so that Erec could live. He could never ask someone to do that.

“Thanks. I’ll . . . see what I can do. For now I’ll just take the Master Shem so I can rescue my brother.”

A small scroll fluttered out of the air and landed on the glass floor in front of Erec. He picked it up. The writing on it was strange—he could not identify it.

“There you go. You should know that thing you are holding is very powerful,” Megaera said. “Tarvos wants it to activate his army
of Golems and wage war. They are lethal fighters, and would wipe out any enemy. So your decision to give this to him will not be a small one.”

Erec held the scroll away from him. Why did they have to tell him that? He would rather not know what would happen once he gave it to Tarvos. He couldn’t even let himself think about it as a choice—Trevor had to be freed. “Thank you again. I hope I am able to come back here with another soul.”

First Megaera, then Alecto, raised their arms, then soared upward, straight up through the roofless opening above into the sky. In moments they were back again, each sailing up and down over and over. Tisiphone watched Erec stumble out of the room, following one cat and then another so that he didn’t crash into a glass wall. Before long he had found his way out of the dazzling palace.

The Master Shem, a small scroll the size of his finger, felt heavy in Erec’s hands. This thing would control all of those Golem creatures that Tarvos had made out of the living soulless beings? Erec had come close to being one of them himself. Now that he was no longer alive, at least he didn’t have to worry about that anymore, although he had plenty of other things to worry about.

What would he do now, though? Save Trevor, of course. But then what? Finishing the quests and becoming king of Alypium was out of the question if he was no longer alive. His existence as a ghost would only continue as long as he had a mission on earth, something supremely important to him. And for now that was saving Trevor . . . and then, he supposed, getting his soul back from the Furies.

Some of the ghosts that lived in Alsatia waved to him as he walked by. It was amazing that they were able to stay here forever. Coming back to this place could be another option for him when he was done with his missions, then. But a thought struck him. These
people here did not need souls—they were already dead. Maybe one of them wouldn’t mind donating theirs to the Furies for him!

As he sprang down the last rounded hill, Erec saw Jox sitting on the grass against a tree.

Jox sprang up and did a few cartwheels toward him and a flip in the air, then bowed low. “Erec! You survived! Glad to see that you made it back. How close were you able to get to the Furies? Did you see them?”

“I spoke with them.” Erec was excited. Things might work out after all. “They talked to me because I was the one who saved them. They have my soul—and they said that they would give it back to me if I could find another soul to replace it. I could return to life again! And I have so much to do on earth still. So, I was wondering—it seems like you all don’t need souls in order to live here as ghosts. If you’re not using yours, would it be possible for the Furies to use it? They need another one if they are going to give me mine back.”

Jox’s jaw dropped. “Give my
soul
to the three Furies? You have to be kidding. I mean, we just met, and you’re asking me to give up my
soul
?”

“I’m sorry.” Erec tried to explain. “You see, it would mean a lot to me. And as long as you’re not really using it—”

“Not
using
it?” Jox shook his head. “No, I’m using it all right. You do know what would happen to me if I didn’t have my soul, don’t you?”

Erec shook his head. “What?”

“I’d turn evil, that’s what! It wouldn’t take too long, either. I mean, longer than it would take for a living person. But give it a few months and I’d start to do all kinds of nasty things. Last thing anyone needs in this place is a bad egg. I heard that it happened one other time, some jerk without a soul snuck into this place. Luckily the good folks here were able to kick that piece of dirt out to deal with his own nasty afterlife by himself.”

Chills ran through Erec. He would
still
turn evil without a soul, even as a ghost? There was no way that he could let himself go on like this, then. An evil ghost could do far worse things than an evil person. And what kind of nasty afterlife was Jox talking about? This was terrible.

There had to be a way to get his soul back. But, at the same time, who would give their own soul to save him? They would have the same awful fate that he had. Maybe it would have been better if he let Tarvos turn him into a Golem after all. The Furies could bring him back to life, and he could give himself up when he went to save Trevor. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about any of this. . . .

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Erec shook his head, backing away. “I have to go take care of my brother now. Maybe I’ll come back another time.”

“Not if you don’t have a soul, you won’t.” Jox crossed his arms and stepped forward threateningly. “At least not for long. This isn’t the place for you, all right?”

“Okay. I understand.” It seemed that there was no place anymore where he would be safe.

CHAPTER EIGHT
An Unfair Trade

F
INDING HIS WAY
out was no problem. The spot where Erec had entered Alsatia looked like a window of wavy ripples hanging in the air. He pushed his head through and there was Mercy’s Spike on the other side, just as he thought, surrounded by the beautiful Pinefort Jungle. He jumped out of the entryway, landing on top of the spiked rock formation. For a moment, Erec held it, grasping the needle with his hands, until he remembered he didn’t have to worry about falling. Instead,
he lightly pushed on the rock and sailed to the ground.

The Port-O-Door was just where he had left it. Erec wondered where his little friend the Hermit was. It would be interesting to talk to him now that Erec had so much knowledge. Oh, well. There wasn’t much that the strange man could tell him that Erec didn’t already now know. The Fates had been right, as usual—Erec now had just what he needed to save Trevor. It was time to find the passageway that Tarvos had left open for his return. Erec easily remembered the spot that the bull had mentioned—it was in the giant Bubble Boulder of Racks Rocks. With his great new sense of direction, he knew the way to the part of Otherness called Quiet. He tapped the map of Aorth and found the spot that would lead straight there.

The Port-O-Door swung out of the side of a cliff onto barren, rocky soil. In the center of the huge pebble-covered ground was a circle of larger stones. Within that, in concentric rings, sat larger and larger rocks leading to an inner circle of giant boulders. And in the very center, towering above the rest, was a massive stony sphere that reflected sunlight in every color of the rainbow. This was the Bubble Boulder that Tarvos had referred to. Erec floated straight to it, glad that he did not have to climb and scoot through small openings as he would have in his old human form.

As he sailed around the Bubble Boulder he found a glowing red doorway. Tarvos had said that it would be apparent only to him, but that seemed hard to believe—it was so bright. He passed through the door, which felt like it was made of some kind of wood, and found himself in the middle of a desert.

Dunes of black sand were the only sight for as far as he could see. Misty wind whipped through a bloodred sky, and sand catapulted right through his body. He was in the underworld, he knew. And the entrance to Tarvos’s cave was nearby. Not here, but just over the next dune.

He tapped lightly with his feet against the sand and shot upward, waving himself down on the other side of the dune. Quicksand swirled in a damp pit. This was it. Erec centered himself over it and waved his arms against the air, pushing down into the quicksand. Dense sand pressed hard enough to enter every bit of him. It felt awful to have his space invaded so completely.

After waving himself downward through the pit, he soon came out the other end into the same corner where he had once followed the small white bullfighter toy. There was no need to dust himself off—the sand stayed where it had been, above him. Erec walked to the corridor on the other end. It was impossible to believe that he had been here just days before—it seemed like a lifetime ago. He shook his head, realizing that it actually
was
a lifetime ago for him.

Tarvos grinned when Erec walked in, and Trevor sprang to his feet and ran to throw his arms around Erec.

“Wait!” Erec stepped back and held a hand out. If Trevor’s hands passed through him, then he would have to tell him all that had happened—and he didn’t want to worry Trevor and his family sick. Why should they grieve for him when he was still here? There was a chance he would be okay, and he wanted to focus on that. “I’m sorry, Trev. I’ll hug you later, kid. Don’t get close, I’m feeling sick.”

Trevor backed away, and Erec gave him a big grin. “I’m so glad to see you! I got the thing Tarvos wanted. Now you’ll be free!”

Trevor smiled back, but Erec could see how tired he was. “You got the Master Shem? I can get out of here, then?”

“You bet!” Erec grinned. He could read Trevor’s mind and knew that he had been horrified by the endless stream of people he had watched turn into Golems. It would be a while before Trevor forgot those images.

Trevor was hungry, too. Tarvos had made sure he stayed alive, but the boy had not eaten a thing. “Time to go home. I know just
where that Serving Tray is. We’ll figure out the perfect meal for you. I bet you’re going to want a triple cheese pizza with bacon and black olives, all to yourself, a huge grilled hamburger with tomato, French fries, and a hot fudge sundae with a cherry on top. I bet you’ll want to eat them all at once!”

“How did you know—I was just thinking that!” Trevor’s eyes widened. “Let’s go!”

Erec held the Master Shem toward Tarvos, who knew full well that Erec had become a ghost. Erec was glad that Tarvos didn’t mention it out loud, and hoped that Trevor didn’t ask so that it would come out. Let Trevor assume that Erec had his soul back, and that’s why they both were free now.

Erec read a little more of Tarvos’s mind, but immediately wished he wasn’t able to. The Furies were right. He was planning a full-scale war. If Tarvos were human, Erec would know all of the details. But he could read enough to see that the bull planned massive death and destruction. Erec was giving him the key to activate his entire army that he had been building for thousands of years. The number of Golems that he had waiting to be activated was nearly endless.

The Master Shem was the key. Tarvos would use it to command each and every Golem to become a fighting machine, stopping at nothing to carry out his orders. How could Erec just hand it to him and walk away?

Yet, he looked at Trevor, starving and excited to go home again. He couldn’t just leave him here to die.

“Let me make it easy for you.” Tarvos nodded toward Erec, and the three cranes that perched on his back swooped down toward the Master Shem in Erec’s hands. In a moment they had it, and it was in Tarvos’s giant claws. “Thank you, Erec Rex. You deserve your reward. And it looks like you won’t need to worry about me anymore, either.”

Trevor’s eyes lit up. “Did you hear that, Erec? We’re both free now!”

Erec smiled, hoping to mask his sadness. “That’s great, Trev. Let’s get out of here.” He would have to get the Master Shem back again before long. He was so connected to the Substance now, he had powers that he had never tried using before—he could figure out a way. But not until his brother was safely home again.

His mission had been to bring his brother home, so that is what he would do. And as a ghost, he had to stick to his mission in order to stay on earth. Changing that messed up his whole reason for existence.