The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (22 page)

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His backpack was heavy--the Hermit had insisted on throwing shells and the starfish inside, to remind him of the beach. Could he possibly be the only human ever to escape from the Nightmare King?

The Hermit tapped a finger on the map of the far reaches of Otherness where it joined with Upper Earth on tiny Henrietta Island in the East Siberian Sea. The door opened into a blast of freezing air. Erec shivered as he walked out into ice-covered rocks. Frigid winds whipped his arms and legs. If Jam was with them, they would have been cozily wrapped in down parkas, he thought.

He slipped, cutting his hand on a patch of jagged ice, but he picked himself up and followed the Hermit through mounds of snow. A flock of tiny black-and-white penguinlike birds rushed away as they came near. His legs were getting stiff and numb. He forced them to keep moving even though he could barely feel them anymore.

Soon he felt like he couldn't possibly go much farther. Erec hunched over and hugged his legs, trying to rub some feeling back into them. The Hermit turned and waved him forward. Erec could not see his face anymore, only the pale sheet of cloth he wore. It looked like the cloth was moving on its own, with nobody inside it.

That was crazy, though. Was he hallucinating from the cold? If he didn't get indoors soon, he would certainly die out here. The Port-O-Door was well behind them now, or he would have staggered back to it.

The white sheet that seemed to be the Hermit waved for him to follow down a slope. He put one foot in front of the other, stumbling into a tunnel that led under a steep, snowy cliff. It looked like the tunnel ahead was filled with ice-covered water. He would freeze in an instant there. Where was the Hermit? Who was that white sheet ahead?

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He pushed onward, afraid that the next time he stopped moving would be his last. He would surely die out here. The sheet was clearly empty now, the Hermit long gone. It waved like a flag, pointing toward the water-filled tunnel.

He didn't have any choice. Erec would never make it back to the Port-O-Door. This was the end of him. He fell forward, stiff, sliding down the slope and straight into the icy tunnel.

His consciousness flickered as he felt his body rushing through waves. The cold no longer bothered him--probably because he was about to die. Was he dead already? It seemed likely. How could he have survived the icy water?

Yet he was still having thoughts. What did that mean?

It was hard to get a sense of what was around him. Everything was white. Not cold, not snowy. Just . . . white. Empty. Vacant like a piece of paper before you decide what to draw or write on it.

Laughter echoed through the tall white chambers. Two huge thrones made of ice stood against the wall, one twice the size of the other. Sitting in the large one was a man with dark hair and a beard, dressed in black. He was doubled over in hysterics. His skin glistened, sparkling like the icicle-coated stalactites that hung around him like crystal chandeliers.

The man pointed at Erec. "You came to visit me. Isn't this rich?" He cackled with glee. "Another king-to-be, eh? It's like a party here. You're not planning to take over my spot, I hope? I'd like to see you try." He wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "I'm sorry. May I introduce myself? My name is King Augeas. Although you probably know that if you've come this far to find me." He pointed at the smaller throne next to his. "If you thought you'd sit at my side, it's too late for that, too. I have another king-to-be keeping me company for a while. Only he has a special guest pass. Which, unfortunately, you do not."

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Erec's jaw dropped when he saw who was sitting next to King Augeas. Wrapped in red ermine and black mink, Balor Stain was shivering in his icy seat. He looked miserable. Balor looked just as shocked to see Erec.

"So, you two know each other? How fun. It's not often I get visitors, you know. If I had any servants left, I'd have them bring out snacks." He tittered. "I personally have lost my taste for food. I'm beyond those crass mortal longings. More power to me, I say, if I'm not subject to the whims of hunger and sleep. Oh, yes. Especially
sleep
." He cackled, waggling his eyebrows with a knowing look.

Erec felt odd, but he couldn't put a finger on why. He wasn't dreaming. Of that he was fairly sure. Things here seemed much clearer than in a dream. Yet at the same time, they did not quite seem real, either. The icy chamber should have been freezing, but Erec felt no sensation of temperature at all. Even though he was standing, he almost felt like he was floating in nothingness. For a moment he wondered if he was dead. Maybe he had fallen into the icy water and didn't make it out again. Was this some kind of final hallucination?

In any case, his quest was to visit King Augeas and introduce himself. Erec bowed like Jam would. "Nice to meet you, King Augeas. My name is Erec Rex."

King Augeas howled with laughter. "Rich. So rich. Did you think I am so mortal that I don't know exactly who you are? I am the king over kings. My realm covers the known world, plus places only recognized in the souls of each person on Earth. The most powerful, the richest, the kings--they are all my subjects, trembling before me and my guards in fear when we approach."

Erec bowed again. He had done what the quest had sent him to do. Time to cut his losses and leave. The guy liked flattery, he thought. Maybe that would work. "Thank you for meeting me, King Augeas. It was an experience I'll never forget. I should go back now,

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but I'll tell everyone how great you are." He looked around to see which way he had come in. The room looked like a rounded bowl with no exits in sight.

The king laughed even harder. "We have a comedian with us today, Balor. He thinks he can waltz in here, meet me, and leave again. But those aren't the rules, are they?"

Balor sneered at Erec. At least that part about him hadn't changed.

"What are you doing here?" Erec asked Balor.

Balor blinked a few times as if he was trying to remember. "Keeping watch on . . ."

"It's a laugh, isn't it?" King Augeas said. "Like this human boy is going to be able to guard something here in my realm. He's lucky he's awake at all, but that was the deal I struck with his father, the Shadow Prince. The man's got some interesting deals up his sleeve. I get to keep the biggest prize of all here, because I'm the only one who is powerful enough to control her." He rubbed his hands together. "They'll want her back at some point, I assume." He giggled, then whispered to Erec with a hand cupped around his mouth, "It may be harder to get her back than they think, though."

The king pointed toward the small throne and a flash of white electricity shot from his finger. Balor's eyes bugged with fear and his mouth opened into a wide
O
. Then the king put his finger down and sighed. "And
this
is supposed to be guarding my prize from me. Keeping watch, are you?" Suddenly Balor gasped and felt around in the air in front of him as if it was pitch black, even though Erec could see perfectly. "Oh, fine. Have your sight back." The king snapped his fingers and Balor blinked with relief.

Erec felt awful for Balor. He wasn't a nice kid, but he was still a kid. It wasn't his fault he was cloned from Baskania. Not too long ago Balor had been doing the Tribaffleon contest with him. Erec remembered how they had to pull swords out of stone anvils. Balor made his

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remote control turn into something like a jackhammer, breaking the anvil so he could pull it out easily. Erec had been so angry that Balor had cheated. Now he wondered if he had been too hard on him. It wasn't like the poor guy had anyone teaching him right from wrong.

But then Erec remembered the Stain triplets gleefully killing baby dragons. No, those three definitely had something wrong upstairs. They were probably lost causes.

What kind of prize had Baskania given King Augeas that was so important Balor had to keep watch over it? Something only King Augeas was powerful enough to hold? What did that mean?

"I don't get guests often, but when I do, I have a little habit. I collect dreams. Nightmares, really. My collection is spectacular. I generally demand a donation when I come upon a live person." He smiled. "I'm not asking much, really. Most people are happy to be rid of them. They can't appreciate their beauty like I can." The king gestured toward Balor. "This young king-to-be offered me a nightmare, even though he didn't have to. Balor's not subject to my rules--that's part of our deal. But he kindly offered anyway." The king smiled. "Come close to me, boy. Let me take your best nightmare for my own."

Erec shuddered. What would taking a nightmare involve? He looked around the room again, trying to find a way out.

"That won't work, boy. The only way out is to do as I say." The king cackled.

Erec approached the king, trembling. If this was all he had to do he could handle it.

"Kneel at my feet."

Erec bent onto his knees. Up close, he could see that King Augeas's skin was hard, sparkling like diamonds. His black eyes, empty dead holes, bored down into him. They grew quickly, sucking Erec into the nothingness inside them.

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Erec was transfixed. He could not move, could barely breathe. The king's pupils seemed to spin, making a vortex that pulled Erec's soul from his body. He could sense a mist lifting from himself. He was the mist. The body he left behind was cold and abandoned.

"There it is," the king said. "That's a juicy one. And well developed, I see. You use this one quite often. I like it."

Erec knew immediately what nightmare the king had seen. It was the one that stemmed from his memory implant when he was three--the one that had turned out to be Bethany's memory. Something strained and tugged inside of his very essence. It was tearing, pulling away from himself. He heard his own voice screaming . . . and then he fell back onto the floor, back into his own body.

Out of his chest, like a reflection in the mist, stepped a small child. It was nameless, faceless, but it was shivering and afraid. A bush rose from Erec, out of his right arm, and it rolled out onto the icy floor, taking root. The child looked around, shaking and crying, and then it hid underneath the bush.

Erec jumped in shock as a car's horn blasted. The car sailed out of his own body, creating a road under it as it drove near the bush. The child sniffed, clinging onto the small branches.

More cars drove by, some emerging from Erec's body with a gut-wrenching pull, and others weightlessly running him over. A man poked his head out of Erec's stomach and looked around. "There's the child." The man sneered, climbing out of Erec as if he was a manhole. His voice, and soon his face, were unmistakable. It was Thanatos Baskania.

Balor gasped. Erec heard him whisper, "Father . . ."

Earl Evirly climbed out of Erec's stomach after Baskania, hanging his head. "I'm sorry, boss. I didn't know it was that big of a deal."

"Didn't know?" Baskania's voice was controlled, but Erec could tell he was enraged. "There's the child, you moron." He grabbed

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Earl's collar. "You're a useless idiot. The one thing I asked you to do, you botched. Can't you even babysit a child?"

"Sorry." Earl talked faster, as if trying to distract him. "I--I didn't think it was important. This kid's useless. Believe me."

Baskania slowly lowered his open palm toward the ground. As he did, Earl fell to his knees, crumpled in the dirt. "
I'll
determine what's useless and what's not," he spat. "This child very well might serve me in some way. Think who the mother was--only the best of King Piter's AdviSeers."

The child watched them, shaking. It looked just as frightened to be found as it was being abandoned.

"I'm sorry. So sorry, sire. Please forgive my stupidity." Earl spoke into the dirt covering his face.

"You'll take this thing." Baskania tapped his toe into the child's side. "And bring it straight to the Memory Mogul. Any memory of all of this"--he waved around--"should be removed. The child will forget you abandoned it, and you'll start fresh as its caretaker."

The figures became hazier as they spoke until they were hard to see. Then the child, the bush, and the two men shrank into tiny plastic statues and whirled through the air into a glass trophy case against a wall. Other small statues lined the shelves. Erec wondered which of them was Balor's nightmare. Suddenly he realized that he was exhausted. Even sitting up seemed to be too much of an effort.

"Care to sleep now?" The king laughed. "I'd advise that you get your instructions first. It would be a shame if you gave up the only chance you had of returning to your world."

"What?" The room was spinning, and Erec forced himself up onto an elbow. "Can't I go home now?"

"Go home? Absolutely not. Our fun is just beginning. You don't have a free pass out of here like this gentleman does." He waved a hand carelessly toward Balor. "You are my subject forever now. As

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soon as you fall asleep, I will add you to my little village. I so enjoy keeping people here. And I'll give you a job to do there too. Everyone gets a job." He grinned, tapping his chin. "Let's see. What will your job be? Something wonderful, I think! Everyone gets a wonderful job in my Nightmare Realm.

"I know. You'll be the stable boy. The stables are a bit of a mess, I'm afraid. But I'll offer you a deal. Once you finish your job you'll be free to leave. Fair is fair, right? You'll find everything that you need there in order to make them sparkle." A sickening smile spread over his face, but his eyes remained cold.

"Don't worry. You don't have to go quite yet. Not until you fall asleep, anyway. So stay awake and keep us company as long as you can. It looks like your birthday will be the last day you are ever awake. Sorry I couldn't make your final birthday party more . . . fun."

A wave of exhaustion hit Erec and his eyes drooped closed. He forced them open. Not yet. He didn't want it to be over yet. But it was impossible to stay awake.

The room grew black as a wicked cackle filled the air.