The Secret of Ashona (28 page)

Except . . . those souls were still prisoner in the storage facility under the Furies’ nest. How could he go on enjoying his own life and letting them all rot in a prison? He knew that saving them had something to do with completing his quest. He would think about it and figure some way, he hoped. Once that was done, he would spend the rest of his life at home relaxing, which was all he really wanted to do.

It wasn’t hard to make excuses so that he could be alone in his room. Everyone knew that he was exhausted. But Erec wasn’t just tired. He was frightened. Seeing himself giving Trevor to Baskania had horrified him. If he looked into his future again he might get a clue so he could keep it from happening.

At least he had his soul back, so he had control over himself. And, thank goodness, he hadn’t seen himself as a raving maniac in the future, as he had before. . . .

But he wanted to find out for sure that those things would be different now. Not seeing them in the last vision wasn’t enough. He could not possibly be that soulless evil jerk who was tormenting families and stealing from kids, but he still had to see it for himself. He knew he could ask specifically to see certain things when he looked through his dragon eyes.

He tried to relax on the bed, but all of his muscles were tight. At first it was hard to envision the dark room in his mind, but soon he pictured himself entering it. As usual, it was warm inside, calming. The second room inside of the first one was even more relaxing. Erec hung on to the assurance that he felt from being inside of it. Maybe everything would be okay. He would soon see that he would be a nice
person again in the future. And he would figure out how to protect Trevor from anything Erec might do.

Show me the time in my future that I had seen before . . . where I was threatening to rob that innocent family. Let me see what I’m doing now during that same time, how things have changed.

Erec ran fast, holding on to an ax and swinging it wildly. He was sweaty and out of breath. Anger and hate surged through him. Before long he came to a small house made of logs. He had to break into it. Erec raised the ax above his head and brought it down onto the door, splitting the wood. He yanked it out, then did it again and again. Pieces clattered to the ground as he kept chopping.

In a rage, he reached inside and unlocked the knob, then flung the door open with a growl. Before him, a family trembled. The mother held a young child tight, his arms wrapped around her neck. An older girl clung to her knee, crying.

The father stepped in front of them, arms out in a gesture of protection, but his hands shook badly. “Leave us alone. You can take anything you want from here. I don’t care what happens to me, but stay away from my family.”

“Jewels. Necklaces. Watches.” Erec squinted around the room. “Where do you keep them?”

The man stuttered, upset. “D-don’t take those. Please. Anything in the whole house is yours—but don’t steal our jewels.”

Erec swung the ax back over his shoulder, aiming at the man’s neck.

“Sorry!” The man stepped back in shock. “I’m sorry. Go ahead. They’re upstairs in my wife’s dresser. But we don’t have much. T-take what you want.”

Erec shoved past them and went upstairs. He rooted through drawers, dumping out piles of clothing and old notebooks. . . .

Erec slammed the shades shut. So, nothing in his future was different at all, then? His old dragon friend, Aoquesth, had shown him that the future he saw could be changed. He had even changed it himself before. So why was this still the same? He had his soul back now—but was it too late and would he still turn evil anyway? He didn’t want to see what would happen with the kids in the park, but he had to know. . . .

Show me what will happen now during the next vision I had. The one where I took candy from all of those kids. Let me see how things will be different now, at that same time. . . .

Kids ran all around a playground, handing out candy. Anger seared through Erec, making him shake. “Give that to me!” He dove at the kids with a snarl. A low growl escaped from his throat as he grabbed candy from their hands. People stared at him with wide eyes, as if he were a maniac. But there was no time to stop—so many kids, so much candy. And he had to take it all!

Mothers darted toward their children, trying to save them. But Erec could run faster than they could. One of the toddlers was surprisingly strong, and Erec struggled a while before yanking the sweets out of his hand. His mother looked equally confused and terrified. Right behind her was a kid about to put an opened lollipop right into her mouth. Not when Erec was there—he’d get it first! Shoving the mother out of his way, he snatched the
sucker out of the little girl’s fist, leaving her crying and rubbing her hand. . . .

He shut the shades again, dumbfounded. Nothing was different at all. He thought about searching his vision of handing Trevor over to Baskania for clues, but it was too depressing. What was going to happen to him? Losing his soul even for a short while must have been too much for him. He would have to talk to Bethany again and make sure there was a way to stop him the minute he started to turn bad. With a heavy heart, Erec left the dark rooms in his mind. He lay still on the bed for a long while, wishing that time would stop moving forward, and that he would be able to stay right there forever.

Erec’s entire family—June, Trevor, Nell, and Zoe, as well as Jam and Bethany, all wanted to go with him to visit the Oracle. That was fine with Erec. He wasn’t ready to part from them, either. So after he dragged himself out of bed the next morning, they went into the Port-O-Door and found Delphi on the map of Greece.

Erec hoped that the Fates didn’t mind that he was bothering them again so soon. Normally he would only visit the Oracle if he badly needed advice. The Fates had made it obvious that they wanted him to think for himself. But he had followed their directions, and now he was stuck. Erec did not know who else to turn to.

The weather was warm, and sun streamed through an impossibly blue sky, lighting the crests and currents in the river with sparkles. They walked a short distance to the old stone well that sat by the water. It occurred to Erec that he would once again have to look through his dragon eyes in order to call the Fates. It was almost too much. He could not bear to see himself being so horrible in the future. What would he see this time? Himself shooting Bethany?

No. He had to ask to see something positive. There had to be a
time when he was doing something good. He had turned Trevor over to Baskania, right? Well, maybe he would rescue him later. That was it! Erec had to ask to see that . . . and maybe it would be the case.
Please,
he thought,
show me a time when I am helping Trevor escape from Baskania.

His family, Bethany, and Jam hung back while Erec leaned over the stone well. Soon, he imagined that he opened a door and entered a quiet, dark room inside of his head. It was so familiar now, so easy to do. It was nice inside there, comforting—and he tried to find solace in that feeling. He found the second door inside of that room and opened it. Going inside felt even better. It was darker, warmer, and so peaceful. . . .

Just being here, and close to the box of knowledge that sat on the table beside him, he again had the feeling that he could do anything he wanted to do. If only he was right! Here were all of the answers in the world. He just had to open his eyes and use well what it told him. Inside he knew everything. Erec rested a hand on the humming box and felt its wisdom. He was ready now to see what it would show. So he found the silken cord that dangled between the two dark windows and pulled. The window shades opened.

Trevor was crouching, arms around his knees, and shaking head to toe. Erec laughed cruelly, and gave him a kick. “Worthless piece of garbage.”

Trevor stared at him with big eyes, in disbelief. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Look at that. He’s useless.” Erec smirked, then kicked Trevor into a large box that was on its side on the floor. He looked up at Baskania and laughed. “Let’s throw him in that trash compactor to be crushed. Trash is all he is, anyway.”

“That’s fine.” Baskania looked at Erec greedily. “Now, let’s see what else you have for me today.”

“This.” Erec held the scepter out to him. “It’s yours again. I got it from the Furies for you. This time nobody will take it away. Why don’t you take my dragon eyes first, so you don’t forget? Once you are using the scepter, you’ll be thinking of other things.”

“Good thinking, boy.” Baskania’s whisper was tight with greed. “Here we go.”

The room went black. Erec felt the scepter lift out of his grip.

“This is it!” Baskania’s voice echoed. “Oh, it’s so good to have you back in my hands again. I’ve missed you, lovely. Let’s see what we can make you do now!”

Erec could feel the electricity spark in the room. Screams echoed from outside. What was Baskania doing with the scepter? He could not even imagine. . . .

Erec dropped the shades on the windows, disgusted. This was impossible. Things were far worse than he could have imagined. He would not save Trevor. On the contrary, he would destroy him, throw him away to die in a trash compactor—and think it was funny. Erec would return to Baskania on his own and give him back everything that he had before—the scepter and Erec’s dragon eyes. And let him ruin the world again. This was impossible!

It didn’t make sense. He had asked to see something good, him rescuing Trevor. But there was nothing good in his future. Nothing at all.

So . . . he was still going to turn evil. Maybe Baskania was going
to put another spell on everyone, and it would convince Erec that he had to serve him. If only there was a way to avoid that. . . .

He had to find a way out of it. He would change his future, stop all of this, and free the imprisoned souls . . . but how would Erec ever know what to do?

Maybe the Fates would tell him. At least he could ask. He leaned over the dark still waters of the well and called to them. “Fates? Are you there? It’s Erec Rex. Can you help me?”

In a moment, the waters of the well began to swirl into a wild whirlpool, rippling with colors. Rose- and violet-colored drops splashed into Erec’s face. And then, at once, it was still.

“Like, o-m-g! He’s back! Can you believe it, girls?”

“Unh—ya. He’s like a live-in, almost. Wow.”

“Practically. Should we ask him to pay rent?”

The three Fates giggled. “Pass me another Cosmos Ripple, Nona. I can tell this is going to be a fun one.”

“Sorry to bother you,” Erec said. “I really need your help. All of these souls are locked up in the Furies’ storage facility, and there’s no way to get them out without the Furies finding out. Unless I can figure out a way to trick the storage room. Can you tell me what to do?”

“Listen to that boy, girls! He’s, like, stopped using his own brain, like, completely! He only wants to follow orders—I mean, gag me!”

“Unh, I know. Tell me about it. Like, duh.”

“I’m sorry,” Erec said. “I’ll try to think about it. Can you just give me a hint?” He felt desperate.

The Fates seemed to think this was hysterical. “Do you think you can outsmart our sisters, little human boy? You can just, like, pop up and sneak away the souls that are keeping them free?” Her voice sang, “I don’t think so!”

That made sense to Erec. “I don’t think so either. But the last time I talked to you, you said that maybe I should free all of the souls
and send the Furies back to Tartarus. Were you just joking then?”

“Like, doesn’t he even know what is a joke and what isn’t? What are we going to do with him, girls?”

All of them replied in chorus, “Laugh at him!” And they all cracked up.

Erec tried not to feel frustrated. “Please. I just want to check. There is nothing I can do to help those souls, then?”

“How many people have to tell you, Erec? You make your own choices! I think the Hermit has said that to you, like, fifty times. Like, wow.”

Now Erec was really confused. “So I
can
save the souls, then? But I can’t trick the Furies. So they’ll know I’m trying to rescue the souls, and they’ll put them right back again. And that won’t help anything.”

The Fate that answered sounded sarcastic. “Like congratulations, Erec. You are sooo smart. What are we going to do with you?”

Another one said, “So, yeah. I mean, you can’t fool the Furies and release the trapped souls the way things are
now
. You will have to decide on what is right and wrong before then. Ob-vi-ous!”

“Totally!” another added.

Erec thought out loud. “Right and wrong? It’s wrong for the souls to be stuck there for sure. Maybe I could get the Furies to leave their nest . . . or cave or whatever it is. Then they wouldn’t know what I was doing. . . .”

A voice sung back, “He doesn’t lea-rn, does he?”

“No-oo, he does-n’t.”

“I have to think of a way?” Panic was overtaking him. He needed to know what to do! “Something might make them leave? I could tell them you wanted to talk to them! That would do it!”

“If they wanted to talk they would be here, duh. Think again, doofus.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they would chase after someone who they
thought did something bad to them. Baskania—they don’t seem to like him much. What could he have of theirs that they want?” An idea was starting to form in his head. There was no way that he could fool the Furies if they were in their cave, that was for sure. “What about the Hinternom? Maybe they’d like to use that to store their souls, or keep more for later, in case the ones they have died?” That was it! Erec could try and see if they’d go for it.

Erec heard a few yawns. “Bo-ring! Nothing like hearing someone think to themselves. Nice talking to you, Erec baby! Ciao!”

“Wait! I have another question. This is really important. How can I avoid Baskania putting a spell on me? I keep seeing what I’m going to do in my future and I can’t let it happen!”

More yawns. “Anything else? We have ‘really important’ things to do . . . like chat and laugh at you behind your back.”