The Secret of Ashona (11 page)

CHAPTER SIX
The Diamond Mind

E
REC PANICKED
. It was happening so fast. His quest was to save these people—or to trade his life for theirs, whatever that meant. What was he supposed to do? He took off running, hoping a cloudy thought would tell him what to do. None came to him.

Ward saw Erec and hesitated. Erec shouted as he ran, “
No!
Don’t let him push you in there! You’re going to die!”

The woman jumped back and spread her arms out, pushing hard against Ward. The other three people clutched one another, nervous.

Ward looked up in amazement. “Erec Rex? What are you doing here?”

“Saving these poor people from
you
, that’s what.” Erec grabbed the woman’s arm and yanked her away from the pit. “How could you do this, Ward? How could you live with yourself?”

Ward’s jaw dropped. “What are you talking about? You’re nuts. Are you here to steal the gifts that these people brought? Because you can’t have them.”

“I just want to stop you from killing them, that’s all.”

Ward sneered. “Listen to this guy. He can’t stop spouting lies. I keep hearing what a slimeball he’s become, and now I get to see it for myself. Jerk.”

“Ward,
you’re
the one who’s lying. How can you do this? These people are about to die, and you’re okay with that?”

Ward crossed his arms. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to get from this game you’re playing, but you’re not pulling anything over on us. We all know that everyone is safe here. These people are lucky, and they’ve given a lot to get to this point. And if you think you’re going to steal their stuff, don’t for a second. I won’t let you—and the Shadow Prince won’t either. So get out of here. Beat it.” When Erec didn’t move, he added, “I hear the Green House is waiting for you to bring them your scepter. I wouldn’t want to hold you up.” Ward grabbed the woman’s shoulders again, leading her back to the pit. She looked nervous but determined, not resisting him at all.

Was it possible that Ward really did not know what was going to happen to these people? Erec tried another tack, unsure what to say. “Wait a minute. Ward, just tell me, have you done this before?”

Ward looked happy to stop so that he could answer. Maybe Erec was actually giving him a few doubts about his job. “No, I haven’t. This is a special privilege for me to be in service of the Shadow Prince
like this. Don’t be too jealous, Erec. I don’t think you’re going to get a turn to serve him—ever. Now get out of here.”

“Ward, listen to me. You were told wrong. It was my quest to come here and save these people. If you really don’t want to hurt anybody, just let them go right now.”

The older man waved a fist in Erec’s direction. “Get out of here, punk. Stop interfering. And stay away from my diamond ring.”

“Don’t you touch that keychain,” the first man said.

Erec was going to have to save these people against their wills. “Look, please. Just trust me here. I don’t want your gifts. I want you to take them all back home again with you. You are not safe here. How about this for a deal? Go home, spend time with your families, talk to them, and do some reading about the Diamond Minds. You’ll see that they are really dangerous. They’ll always be here if you really want to come back.”

The four people seemed to care less about what he said. The woman announced, “Obviously I’m not listening to some kid over the Shadow Prince. I’m ready. Let’s go.”

But Ward could not stop staring at Erec. “You’re just jealous. I mean, come on. I remember during those contests when I first met you, last summer in Alypium, you said something to me like this. You were trying to rattle me, make me stop trusting my friends.”

Erec remembered exactly what Ward was talking about. “I told you that someone was planning to get rid of you before the final contest to make sure that you weren’t in the way. You know, so Balor and Damon Stain and Rock Rayson would be the winners. And I was right.”

Ward turned red. “You did not say that. I don’t remember it, anyway.” He looked confused. “You just twist what people are thinking for your own benefit. Nobody believes you. Give it up.” He looked up at the sky. “Did you guys hear that? I think the Harpies are coming. They
are supposed to watch us and make sure I get you all into the pits okay.”

In moments, five Harpies appeared overhead, swooping down toward Ward and his guests. Thick taloned claws sprouted from their large black vulture bodies. Their black hair was pulled tight into buns, and thick black eyebrows arched over their beaked noses and black lips. One of them screeched, “Ward Gamin! You have still not followed your orders. Do you need help?”

Ward froze. “N-no, ma’am. I was just going to, um . . .” He turned to glare at Erec. “We’re fine. Watch.” He led the woman to the edge of the pit and started to push. Erec watched in shock, too far to run and save her before she fell. Ward’s hands gripped the woman’s shoulders tightly, but he waved her back and forth at the side of the hole as if unsure what he wanted to do. Right as he gave her a shove forward, his jacket seemed to stretch behind him and he stepped back again.

“What’s wrong with you?” the woman said. “Let’s do this!”

Ward’s face was red and he bit his lip. “Wait a minute.”

“What’s going on here?” she said. “You’re not listening to that thieving kid, are you?”

“No.” Ward looked up at the Harpies, who were flapping closer. “It’s just . . .”

Erec stepped forward. “Don’t do it, Ward.”

Ward looked at Erec with pure hatred. “Shut up! I don’t care what you say, don’t you get it? There’s something else that’s bothering me here. Not what you’re spouting off about. All you’re doing is making me want to throw her into this hole more. If you say another word I’m going to do it too.” He stared at his feet, squeezing the woman’s shoulders. “It’s just something that Balor said. . . .” Ward was speaking to himself now. “What was it? What’s wrong with me?”

Then his eyes flashed. “I know! It’s just that Tutti Vespucci is here. And Balor was going on and on a few weeks ago about how
Tutti was busted for selling people’s eyes back to them from the Shadow Prince’s Leyebrary. The Shadow Prince was going to get revenge . . . but now Tutti is here getting this reward. That’s just . . . making me wonder.”

The older man’s jaw dropped. He gripped his arms together tightly. “What did you say, boy? I was busted for . . .” He grew pale. “You know, I changed my mind. I’d better be going home now.” Tutti turned around, hands ahead of him, and stumbled back toward the door of the hut.

The woman in front of Ward froze, eyes wide. “I . . . think I better go back too. I’m not sure I actually want to do this after all.”

“What else did Balor say?” the dark-skinned man called out, voice shaky. “Did he talk about me at all?”

“No, it was something else. . . .” Ward’s brow knit in concentration. “He was laughing the other day when we talked about this, and he said something like, ‘In a few days you’ll know everything.’ When I asked him about it he kept joking that I was going to know my whole future. It didn’t make sense. And then when I left today, he said, ‘Nice knowing ya.’ It kind of creeped me out, but I thought he was just trying to make me nervous, the way he always jokes around.”

Ward stared into space. Then he shook his head, aware of the people around him. “I’m sure it’s nothing. It has to be nothing.” At the same time, he made no move to push the woman toward the hole.

The five Harpies began squawking and closed in. Each of them grabbed one of the four visitors by their shoulders and lifted them off of the ground. The fifth grabbed Ward.

The blinded group soared above the ground, struggling against strong claws and screaming to be let go. Ward yanked on the leg of the Harpy holding him. “Stop it! Put me down!”

Each of the Harpies flew over one of the holes, ready to drop their victims to their deaths—including Ward Gamin.
Five people
to save.
Here they were. Erec looked around desperately, wondering what to do. The Harpies were well out of his reach. Then, suddenly, he felt dizzy. He reached to grab a column nearby him, but it was farther away than he thought, and he almost fell to the ground. His head was spinning—could this be . . . ?

Just a moment later he could feel his body change. His clothing ripped as he grew taller, muscles splitting his T-shirt. In a surge of energy, black silken wings sprouted from his back. When he looked down at himself, he could see green scales now covered his skin. In a blink, everything around him looked green too, so his dragon eyes were out. With them he could see the white ropy Substance hanging in the air around him which held all of the magic in the world.

It had been a little while since he had taken the form of a dragon, something that happened now when he got the cloudy thought commands that protected him. It felt good to have the extra energy and strength that came with the change. But then, as he watched the five people heading toward their deaths, anger overtook him. He let out an immense roar that shook the ground. The Harpies, hanging in the air, turned to stare at him.

Erec waited too, for directions from the cloudy thought he was having. Would he have a chance of saving everyone? He was ready to do whatever it took, pushing aside the troubling fact that he would be giving his life to do it.

No visions appeared to him with this cloudy thought, just commands.

Fly at the Harpies.

Before Erec knew what he was doing, he was in the air. One wing stretched out and scooped a Harpy out of the way. His leg sideswiped another one, throwing her off balance.

Breathe Fire.

In a rage, flames burst from Erec’s lips. He reached his neck forward and his limbs out, swinging around to push the bird creatures back. They flapped away, not over the holes in the ground anymore.

Attack!

With this command, every ounce of anger that Erec had inside of him was released. He sprang forward and clawed at one of the Harpies, tore his teeth into another. They fought back the best they could, bashing him with their wings while still clinging on to their victims. He kept coming at them, pushing them farther from the holes in the ground. First one and then another Harpy set down the older man and the woman, so they could attack Erec with their claws.

Shoot fire at their feet.

Erec breathed a stream of fire at the claws of the two Harpies who had set the people down. They moaned and hovered in the air, rubbing their feet together. Shooting Erec dirty looks, they flew back to pick up their victims. But as soon as they tried to touch them, the Harpies snarled in pain from their sore feet.

Two more Harpies set down the men that they were carrying and dove at Erec, swinging huge, sharp claws. Erec knocked them away just as the first two returned. They banged against him with their sides, stabbing him with their beaks.

Erec fought back, pummeling them with his legs and strong tail. He saw the fifth Harpy centering a terrified Ward Gamin over one of the holes in the ground. He sailed toward them just as the Harpy that was holding Ward let go.

Dive.

Erec took a sharp turn in the air and dove into the hole, pumping his wings and tail against the air. He grabbed Ward, then turned and flew up just before he hit the glowing mass at the bottom of the pit. Erec sailed out of the pit and set Ward down with the others. All of the Harpies chased him, diving at Erec with their beaks and talons. It was too much at once. A sharp stab deep in his side felt wet, and soon blood poured down his leg. Erec struggled to fight back, ripping at the feathered creatures with his claws and teeth. But weakness was overtaking him. Each time he turned to attack, another Harpy flew at him from behind.

Why wasn’t he getting any more commands?

Erec heard Ward whisper to the other people around him, “There’s a Port-O-Door inside. Let me help you guys out of here.”

Erec’s breath caught. They were all going to leave safely! He roared, hoping to distract the Harpies in case they might have heard Ward. It seemed to work—they came at Erec harder now. But his roar only drained him further.